TWO aggressive and in-form sides will clash in a battle of equals when former champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) face off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a Pepsi Indian Premier League clash in Chennai on Saturday (April 13).
It would be an evenly-matched contest as both the teams are coming off big wins.
While Chennai thrashed Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets, RCB defeated defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets in their previous matches.
Although RCB and CSK seem evenly-matched on paper, the presence of Chris Gayle in the Bangalore team could prove to be the decisive factor.
Gayle yet again proved his mettle by striking an unbeaten 85 to ensure a convincing victory for RCB against KKR.
Such was the ferocity of the ‘Gayle storm’ that RCB knocked off the target with 15 balls to spare. It was the third win for RCB in four matches.
The imposing Jamaican got his runs off only 50 deliveries hitting four boundaries and as many as nine sixes.
It is, therefore, hardly a surprise that Gayle is leading the ‘Maximum Sixes’ list with 14 over-boundaries. With good support from skipper Virat Kohli and South African swashbuckler A B de Villiers, Gayle makes the RCB line-up look intimidating.
Chennai’s batting side also has quite a few good hitters, with opener Michael Hussey shining in their previous match.
Hussey slammed a blistering 54-ball 86, as Chennai rolled over Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets.
Also in good form is Murali Vijay, who got a fifty in the previous match. The two-time former champions have come back quite strongly after losing their opening match to Mumbai
Indians.
Add skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and Suresh Raina to this list and Chennai’s batting line-up looks good enough.
The team management would also want useful contributions from S Badrinath and Ravindra Jadeja lower down the order.
It is still unclear whether South African all-rounder Albie Morkel, who twisted his ankle while bowling in the finals of the domestic Twenty 20 competition in South Africa, will play despite getting the go-ahead after precautionary scans.
On the bowling front, RCB’s attack has been delivering the goods despite missing pace spearhead Zaheer Khan.
Vinay Kumar has led the pack admirably and the spinners, Muttiah Muralitharan and Murali Karthik, are also quite a handful.
For CSK, Australian pacer Ben Laughlin and Ankit Rajpoot have been impressive, but off-spinner R Ashwin would be the key bowler.
