The State of Play
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders won their most recent matches in IPL 2024 and will come into this seeking to maintain their upward trajectory.
The Royal Challengers beat the Punjab Kings by four wickets – an impressive bounce back from their opening-night stumble against the Chennai Super Kings – while the Knight Riders edged out a four-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, a result all the more impressive given Pat Cummins’ side’s record-breaking performance on Wednesday.
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In defeating Sunrisers, Kolkata benefitted from a mixture of home-grown talent and overseas stars – England batter Phil Salt and West Indian Andre Russell combining to put up a competitive total before paceman Harshit Rana claimed three for 33 to put the brakes on the Sunrisers’ reply.
It wasn’t a perfect performance, however, and coach Chandrakant Pandit will be hoping for more from record-signing Mitchell Starc (none for 53 from four overs) and captain Shreyas Iyer, who made a second-ball duck.
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Pandit has also had to face accusations this week from former player David Wiese, who was part of the squad for IPL 2023, that his disciplinarian style alienates the dressing room.
Two of India’s biggest stars were the architects behind Bengaluru’s win over the Kings.
Pace bowler Mohammed Siraj claimed two for 26 in an excellent spell before Virat Kohli set the tone in their reply with a brilliant 77 from 49 balls, a knock that included 11 fours and two sixes.
Expected line-ups
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Kohli, Du Plessis (c), Green, Patidar, Maxwell, Rawat (wk), Karthik, Topley, Dagar, Dayal, Siraj
Kolkata Knight Riders: Salt (wk), Narine, V Iyer, S Iyer (c), Rana, Ram Singh, Rin Singh, Russell, Starc, Rana, Chakravarthy
Just Maxi prepping to NOT bowl at the Chinnaswamy and NOT pick a few wickets 🤭#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/epm2f2fQqQ
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 28, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Friday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 1.50pm GMT. Coverage on Sky Sports Main Event starts at 2pm.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Adding a ‘shot’ of purple! 💥 pic.twitter.com/PXwcht0HSY
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 28, 2024
Prediction
This has the makings of a thriller. In Russell, the Knight Riders have arguably the stand-out player, a magician who can turn a game by himself.
But the Royal Challengers appear to have the more balance line-up with the likes of Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell providing the stardust.
We expect Du Plessis’ men to make it two wins from three.
