State of Play
A six-wicket defeat to defending champions Chennai Super Kings was certainly not the way Royal Challengers Bangalore wanted to open their 2024 IPL campaign but a run of three home matches will give them added hope of putting their fortunes back on track.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium has not always offered much advantage to RCB, and there should be several entertaining individual showdowns when the Punjab Kings arrive off the back of a four-wicket win at the Delhi Capitals, including a player of the match display by Sam Curran.
The 25-year-old starred with 63 runs off 47 balls, supported by fellow England international Liam Livingstone, who sealed victory with a six.
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For the visitors, the likes of Faf du Plessis and Jonny Bairstow should profit from a high-scoring setting, while the Challengers’ Virat Kohli should also enjoy the surface.
Kohli has fared well against the Kings’ Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, hitting 44 runs off 23 balls against the former without being dismissed.
Those numbers pale in comparison to Bairstow’s rate of more than 200 against each of Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma and Glenn Maxwell, amassing 101 runs in 42 balls without being dismissed.
The hosts won this fixture in 2023 but their opponents shade the overall record, winning 17 of the 31 encounters between the sides.
If “confidence” was a picture. 👀💯#PLAYBOLD #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 PIC.TWITTER.COM/69GWINNVKM
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) MARCH 25, 2024
Expected line-ups
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Monday’s game will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 1.50pm GMT. Coverage on Sky Sports Main Event starts at 2pm.
Prediction
The embryonic stage of the season and first performances from these teams makes this contest a tight one to call, with much likely to depend on who goes in first and whether the Challengers’ enviable fleet of potential match-winners can move through the gears.
Both teams will have realistic ambitions of reaching more than 200. The Kings have the better bowling options but back Bangalore’s stars to see them to victory.
