The Royal Challengers host the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday in bangalore in a vital Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) contest, between two sides battling hard for top four positions in the qualifying table.
After their victory against the table topping Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, Kolkata have risen to third in the table, and another win will close the gap on the top two to manageable levels, and would help to open a more significant gap over the chasing pack. Likewise for Bangalore, they are in fourth position, but have their noses only just in front of the chasing teams.
The teams have already met once in this season’s IPL tournament, with the Royal Challengers claiming the victory by just three wickets with an over remaining. That win came very much courtesy of a special innings by Chris gayle, who struck 96 off just 56 deliveries, including seven sixes.
However, Thursday’s victory at Eden Gardens will have filled the Knight Riders with a massive amount of confidence as we move into the second half of the season, after an indifferent first part of the campaign. Although there was only one ball remaining when the Knight Riders reached their target, they were far more in control of matters than the final margin suggests.
Thanks to Brad Hogg, Chennai were kept to 165, and with Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell in control, both scoring half centuries, Chennai own spinners looked very ordinary, with their six overs costing 48 runs.
The Royals were frustrated by the weather in their most recent fixture, when after posting 200 in their 20 overs against the Rajasthan Royals, the rains came, and there was no chance of a reply even starting to that formidable target.
However, it might just be that the reigning Champions the Knight Riders are timing their defence of the title just right, which may leave the Bangalore franchise once more on the outside looking in, when it come to the post-season play-offs.