The State of Play
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look to make it three wins on the trot and continue their late run for a play-off spot in IPL 2024 when they take on the Gujarat Titans tomorrow.
RCB remain at the foot of the table but their sudden upturn in form means they are still in contention for the post-season despite a campaign that has fallen well short of expectations.
Read our other sports news stories here:
Manchester United: Ten Hag expects busy window at Old Trafford
Woods to play US Open
IPL 2024: Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders – preview and betting offers
All hope appeared lost when they lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 21 – their seventh defeat in eight games at the time – but back-to-back victories over Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Titans means their season is still alive.
They have six points with 14 potentially enough to sneak through.
It remains a tall order but they will fancy their chances of another win at the weekend when they immediately come up against the Titans once again, this time on home turf.
They were convincing winners in Ahmedabad on Sunday, Will Jacks’ brutal 100 not out off 41 balls carrying them to a nine-wicket win with four overs remaining.
Virat Kohli played the anchor with an unbeaten 70 and the former India skipper admitted afterwards that a change in approach was starting to reap its rewards.
He said: “We are attacking the game way more. That’s the way we want to play our cricket. And it’s not been up to the standard except in the last two games… It’s about us as cricketers having some self-respect.”
18+ Gambling Can Be Addictive. Please Play Responsibly. BeGambleAware GamStop Gambling Commission
RCB appear upwardly mobile but the same cannot be said for a Titans side that has lost three of their last four.
Shubman Gill’s men have lost all momentum to slide down the table with a record of four wins from 10 games.
The India batter was disappointed with his side’s bowling display against RCB having made 200 with the bat.
“It was great hitting by them,” he said. “But having said that, we need to come up with better plans. At the end of the day what matters is how much you’ve got after 20 overs. We thought it was enough for us to have a good match. We were not able to pick up wickets in the middle overs, which is one of our strengths.”
The continued absence of India paceman Mohammed Shami has hurt the Titans with star all-rounder Rashid Khan also struggling for form.
The grind never stops! 💪#AavaDe | #GTKarshe pic.twitter.com/O1l8QrpmDb
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 3, 2024
Expected line-ups
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Kohli, Du Plessis (c), Jacks, Patidar, Maxwell, Green, Karthik (wk), Sharma, Siraj, Dayal, Singh
Gujarat Titans: Saha (wk), Gill (c), Sudharsan, MS Khan, Miller, Omarzai, Tewatia, R Khan, Kishore, Sharma, Ahmad
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Saturday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Thumbs up if you can’t wait for Saturday, as we return to the Chinnaswamy from a long break! 😃👍#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/5KYQ1MQETG
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 2, 2024
Prediction
It was always a mystery that an RCB side with so much talent could play so badly in the first few weeks of the IPL.
With confidence seemingly restored and players starting to hit form, they could be one of the storylines to follow as the race for the play-offs intensifies.
In Kohli, they have the best batter in the competition with the likes of Jacks, Faf Du Plessis, Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell able to tee off around him.
Their bowling is arguably less impressive but they still have enough to win here.
The Titans are on the slide and we expect RCB to make it three wins on the trot.
