Orangearmy all set for an Royal challenge

Points table-wise, not much has changed for Royal Challengers Bangalore from the time they last played a home game on May 1. The last 15 days on the road has seen them bag a 50% success rate in four fixtures, and thus, just about cling on in the playoffs race in what's turning out to be one of the most tightly-contested seasons of the IPL.

Yet, Virat Kohli & Co. return to their home ground with a feeling that there's still time to turn the tide. There is an idea of 'desperation' that Kohli has conveyed to his squad as even after their first back-to-back wins since IPL 2016, RCB still need two more to even stay in the hunt.

"I suppose we approach it like the last three games. We know the scenario and the only way we can give ourselves that opportunity is having the desperation. I think the way that it appears to me visually is the way Virat bats. He plays unencumbered and he plays aggressive, particularly in that Powerplay. We have seen in the last two games versus Delhi and obviously in the last one versus Kings XI that he is prepared to take bowlers on and take a lot of risks. When he does that, that has a way of flowing through the rest of the team, and particularly with our batting," RCB head coach Daniel Vettori opined.

As good a ploy as that may be, RCB will also have to be mindful of what they need to do after they secure a flying start. SRH bowlers have been incredibly consistent across all phases of the 20 overs, but have bagged most of their wickets (34 out of 75) in the period between the seventh and the 15th over. RCB got the first-hand experience of that when they went from 55 for 1 in 6 overs to 85 for 5 in 12 in Hyderabad just nine days ago.
Even as SRH sit pretty at the top of the table, and have a top-two finish guaranteed, the team is no mood to loosen their metaphorical ties and put their feet up. There appears to be room to give some of their fringe players - including Carlos Brathwaite - a go, but that's not how the team management seems to be looking at the last two games, which are inconsequential to them as far as their playoffs fate is concerned.

https://www.iplt20.com/photos/115011/match-36-srh-v-dd/132365/

"If you look at any T20 tournament, teams which have a high percentage of wins against losses, have very few turnovers with regards to the playing XI. That's pretty much been the case with us. Apart from a couple of injuries, we have been pretty consistent with our selections and I think it is an important thing to have. We will continue to be consistent in these last few games. Because yes, we want to continue to win and secondly, I think it is important you have the continuity within the playing XI - people understanding what their roles are within the team and they get an opportunity to continue their form," SRH head coach Tom Moody said, nearly confirming that Brathwaite and the likes are likely to remain on the sidelines.

While the result may not make any difference to SRH, there's a chance to put their high-performing bowling unit to a tough test against the carefree approach of RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, that boasts batsmen-friendly dimensions. Such an outing, irrespective of the outcome it yields, is likely to bode well for Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Co. before they head to Mumbai for the playoffs where they will have to operate on good batting surfaces.
Probable XI: Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Wriddhiman Saha/Shreevats Goswami, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma



credits: http://www.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scores/20111/rcb-vs-srh-51st-match-indian-premier-league-2018