IPL 2024, Match 10: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Preview

1 month ago 45

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match No. 10 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, March 29.

The Royal Challengers started their campaign with a trip to Chennai to play the defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the season opener. On a tricky surface, Faf du Plessis and Co. posted 173/6 in their 20 overs. The home side chased the target with relative ease as they won with six wickets and eight balls to spare.

After this defeat, RCB managed to dust themselves up and produced a much better performance against Punjab Kings at home. The Bengaluru-based franchise restricted the Kings to 176/6 on a good batting surface. In reply, former captain Virat Kohli played a scintillating knock of 77 runs off 49 balls, hitting 11 fours and two sixes before Dinesh Karthik (28 off 10 balls) and Mahipal Lomror (17 off 8 balls) took their team home with four wickets and as many balls in the bank.

The Knight Riders, on the other hand, are coming off a long break, having played their only encounter in IPL 2024 on March 23. They clashed against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. On a belter of a track, KKR posted 208/7 after Phil Salt (54 off 40 balls) and Andre Russell (64* off 25 balls) scored important half-centuries. The home team was struggling at 51/4 in the eighth over but managed to bounce back because of their depth in the batting department. Ramandeep Singh (35 off 17 balls) and Rinku Singh (23 off 15 balls) also played crucial knocks.

Sunrisers' batters gave a good account of themselves as they were up for the challenge. Heinrich Klaasen slammed a sizzling half-century but the 2016 champions eventually lost by four runs. Harshit Rana impressed with a three-for and also defended 13 runs in the last over. Russell also picked up a wicket, while Sunil Narine bowled an incredible spell of 1/19 in four overs. However, Mitchell Starc, the most expensive player in the league, had a rough start as he conceded 53 runs in his four overs without picking up a wicket.

RCB and KKR have had quite the rivalry over the years. They played in the first match of the IPL in 2008 and Brendon McCullum set the stage ablaze with a stunning 158 not out off 73 balls at the Chinnaswamy. Gautam Gambhir and Kohli got involved in a verbal spat during the 2013 edition of the tournament. In 2017, RCB were bowled out for 49 at the Eden Gardens, which continues to be the lowest team total in the tournament's history.

Last year, Kohli and Gambhir, who was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants, once again got involved in a war of words. This time the former India cricketer is in the dugout of the Knight Riders and will be planning to get the better of du Plessis and Co.

M Chinnaswamy Stadium Pitch Report and Conditions

M Chinnaswamy Stadium provides one of the most ideal surfaces for batting in the country. The boundaries are small and it makes the job of the bowlers more difficult. In the first game at this venue in IPL 2024, the pacers caused some problems when they bowled into the surface, just short of a good length. The captain who wins the toss would have no hesitation in opting to bowl first as defending at this venue has historically been very difficult. 48 out of the 89 IPL matches have been won by chasing teams, while teams batting first have emerged victorious on 37 occasions. The average first-innings score is 166.

Probable Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

Mayank Dagar and Glenn Maxwell shared the spin-bowling duties for RCB in their last game as they left out Karn Sharma. KKR are a side that has several batters who can play well against spin and that is why there is a chance of them sticking to their playing XI from the last game. However, Dagar was expensive in the last game, and with four left-handers in KKR's top seven, there could be a chance of Karn coming back in place of the left-arm spinner. Alzarri Joseph has conceded runs at an economy rate of 10.57 in the two games and picked up a solitary wicket. The think tank could look to bring in the more experienced Lockie Ferguson against his former side for this game in place of Alzarri.

Predicted XI: Faf Du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wk), Mayank Dagar/Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph/Lockie Ferguson, Mohammad Siraj, Yash Dayal

Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror

Also Check: IPL 2024 Points Table

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

The Knights usually play to their strength, which is their spin-bowling department. They brought in Suyash Sharma as an Impact Player in the last game and the youngster bowled only a couple of overs. He could play a similar role at the Chinnaswamy on Friday and bowling to top-class batters with short boundaries will be a big challenge for him. Barring any last-minute niggles, KKR should be going in with an unchanged XI.

Predicted XI: Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy

Impact Player: Suyash Sharma