The State of Play
Two teams in need of a win for contrasting reasons meet when Royal Challengers Bangalore look to gain revenge for their six-wicket loss against Gujarat Titans in May.
RCB are bottom of the IPL 2024 after losing seven of their first nine matches but will hope their 35-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday proves a turning point, with Virat Kohli’s 51, Rajat Patidar’s 50 and an unbeaten 37 off 20 balls from Cameron Green helping them end a run of six consecutive losses.
Their spin bowlers were surprisingly effective, and Green took 2/12, Karn Sharma 2/29 and debutant Swapnil Singh 2/40 after they set a target of 206.
Kohli’s 430 runs makes him the runaway top scorer in the IPL, hitting his 53rd IPL 50 to keep RCB in play-off contention.
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GT are yet to string consecutive wins together this season, standing seventh with four wins from nine matches, although the crowded nature of the table means they are only two points behind second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders.
Chasing 225 against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday, Titans looked to be closing in through Rashid Khan’s unbeaten 21 off 11 balls but lost by four runs in a thriller.
B Sai Sudharsan struck 65 off 39 deliveries and David Miller weighed in with 55 from 23 as GT threatened to follow up their three-wicket win over Punjab Kings three days earlier.
Sandeep Warrier took three wickets in the Powerplay, while Mohit Sharma has 10 wickets from nine matches so far this season.
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Expected line-ups
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill(c), David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Warrier
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal
The Green 3D show we all waited for ❤
Keep them coming, Greeny! 😁#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/oF3TB7raUz
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 26, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Sunday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.50am BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
A top team effort and a tough choice for the MVP 🙌
Kane Williamson announces the dressing room awards after the #DCvGT contest.#AavaDe | #GTKarshe | #TATAIPL2024 pic.twitter.com/jBTPTKMs6T
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 25, 2024
Prediction
They weren’t on vintage form against DC, but expect GT’s bowling to make the difference: Sai Kishore took 4/33 to earn player of the match against PBKS, with Noor Ahmad collecting 2/20.
Shubman Gill hit an unbeaten 89 at the Narendra Modi Stadium when GT lost the first edition of that fixture on April 4. The captain now has 304 runs in nine innings, including two 50s.
