What

Virat Kohli & MS Dhoni will have plenty to address when their respective teams - Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rising Pune Supergiants – come up against each other in Match 35 of VIVO IPL 2016. Both teams find a place in the bottom half of the table; RCB, seventh in the standings, have two wins from seven outings, while RPS are one place above with three wins from nine matches.

In their most recent outing, RCB failed to defend 185 runs on the board. RCB were in the driver’s seat for most part of the contest. But right at the business end, they were blown away by Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan, who took their team to a win with some stunning big hits. The bowling has been an area of concern for RCB so far in the season, and though there was an improvement in their execution in the previous match, they need to fare much better with the ball in the matches to come. For RCB, it is almost now or never; luckily for them, they will get to play three more matches at home after this and if they end up bagging two points in each of those games, they will very much be in the hunt for a place in the Playoffs.

Rising Pune Supergiants got the better of Delhi Daredevils in their previous match; after opting to field first, they chased down 162 to win by seven wickets. RPS’ bowing attack too has lacked incisiveness and therefore their approach to chase targets suits them best. The team has found able replacements for their overseas players who were ruled out because of injury; Usman Khawaja walked into the XI and appeared to be at ease in his first outing, while George Bailey has played plenty of cricket and one can expect nothing less than hundred percent from him.

When

7 May 2016, 1600 Hrs IST

Where

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Weather

Temperature: Max 36°c, Min 30°c
Humidity: Max 80%
Wind: 7kmph
51% chance of thunderstorm at 6pm

The Protagonists

Batting is most definitely the stronger department of both teams. Also, given the possibility of showers interrupting the mach, the focus will be on the batsmen. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have been striking it for RCB, while Ajinkya Rahane has gone about accumulating runs without being too loud for Rising Pune Supergiants. Usman Khawaja has been in rich vein of form, and RPS will hope he can continue to keep piling on the runs like he has been doing in the last twelve months.

RCB will possibly look at strengthening their bowling by including their latest overseas signing Chris Jordan. The Englishman was extremely effective, especially while bowling in the death in the recently-concluded World T20, and RCB will hope to get out four tight overs out of him.

Head to Head