Deadline: April 30, 2019 at 8 PM IST
Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Pitch, scores, and conditions
Bengaluru never disappoints the batters, and it does not come as a surprise that the average first and second innings scores read 181 and 177 respectively this season. With both teams boasting of stellar batters, it will be nothing short of a high-scoring thriller.
Probable XI for Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shivam Dube, Heinrich Klaasen, Gurkeerat Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini
Probable XI for Rajasthan: Ajinkya Rahane, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson (wk), Steven Smith (c), Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy cricket team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
Note that you can, now, change your team after the toss. You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ names to get the data while making your fantasy team.
My XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), AB de Villiers (c), Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Washington Sundar, Stuart Binny, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Gopal, Umesh Yadav
Previous encounter
Barring Patel, no other Bangalore batter could get going in the previous meeting between these teams. Shreyas Gopal, for his figures of 3 for 12, was adjudged Player of the Match. He took the all-important wickets of Kohli and ABD.
Preview
Rajasthan have won consecutive games for the first time this season: Riyan Parag, in the face of adversity, show magnificent character in the first win, while the second win came without Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, who went back home to prepare for their home series against Pakistan.
Although Rajasthan are languishing at the second-last position, they still have a chance to qualify for the playoffs. They have to win their remaining two matches, but Bangalore – who are out of the playoffs race already – won’t let Rajasthan off the hook. If Bangalore win their remaining two matches, they at least won’t end up at the bottom. They will cherish whatever silver lining they witness.
Players to watch out for
Despite playing an innings fewer and without scoring a century, ABD has scored 9 more runs than Kohli. After all, ABD has 5 fifties compared to Kohli’s 2. Be it while batting first or chasing, ABD has been Bangalore’s only consistent batter.
Parthiv is getting there. His role has been simple. Go there and hit everything on the way – exactly what Captain America tells Hulk when they encounter villains. Parthiv may not be as colossal as Hulk, but he gets his job done. His last three scores read 53, 43, and 39. In all, his 365 runs have come with a strike rate of 140.3.
Same is the case with Rahane. He has been a different batter ever since the burden of captaincy was taken off him. His last three innings read 105*, 34, and 39.
Although Chahal is the third-highest wicket-taker this season, his form has dipped significantly, taking only 3 wickets in the last 4 matches. Gopal has taken a wicket fewer, but his economy reads much better than Chahal’s.
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