IPL 2018: 35th Match, Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - Match Prediction

After the nail-biter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, a week ago which saw Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coming out on top against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), yet again the two teams will square off in their second encounter of the season at the Maharastra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday afternoon.

While CSK is coming back from two back-to-back defeats, RCB is coming from a win against Mumbai Indians (MI). It will be an exciting encounter with both the teams having quality players in their ranks.

CSK’s bowling has been quite average and they have leaked a lot of runs, especially at the death.

However, they have made up for this with exceptional batting performances. Ambati Rayudu has been the star of the team, having performed in almost every match.

Moreover, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is at his vintage best and is rolling back the years with each performance. Shane Watson and Suresh Raina have been performing well too.

On the other hand, much like CSK, it is their death bowling which has been the problem. However, they put in a good effort in the last match.

Virat Kohli has been the best batsman for RCB once again. Brendon McCullum and Mandeep Singh have chipped in with a few good performances as well.

Meanwhile, AB de Villiers is likely to return to the playing XI which will be a huge boost for the side. RCB will look to win consecutive games for the first time this season and move closer to the top four.

Squad:

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Lungi Ngidi, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willey.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Quinton de Kock (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Manan Vohra, Brendon McCullum, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande

Match Prediction:

The head-to-head record between the two sides is in CSK’s favour, however, RCB will desperate to change the statistics. It will be a high scoring encounter with both team’s having quality stroke makers.

Although it is expected to be a thrilling encounter with both teams looking for a win, however, Bangalore is likely to go home happier with the need they have in hand.

Also, Read: Ajit Agarkar blames middle-order for Mumbai Indian’s poor show