Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Lions
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Lions
RCB have four wins from ten outings and are placed in the bottom half of the table. In their most recent outing, they were humbled by the defending champions Mumbai Indians; batting first, RCB could only post 151-4 – their lowest total of the season – which the visitors comfortably chased down with eight balls to spare. The two-time runner-up are now faced with a straightforward equation – win each of the remaining matches stay in the race for the Playoffs, lose one match and it could be curtains on Playoff aspirations.
Courtesy their rollicking start, despite three defeats in their four recent matches the Gujarat Lions still occupy a place in the top half of the table. They have seven wins from 11 outings – six of which came in their first seven matches – and a win in this match will almost confirm their passage to the Playoffs. The Lions will be without their captain Suresh Raina – who will miss an IPL match for the first time ever – since he is away on paternity leave. Brendon McCullum is expected to take over the reins of the team. In recent times, the team’s batting hasn’t quite fired like it did in earlier weeks; that the team has had only two 50-run partnerships in the last four matches explains how poor the Lions batting performances have been in recent times. In their previous outing, the Lions outclassed the Kolkata Knight Riders, chasing down 158 to win with two overs to spare; they will take plenty of confidence from that performance and want to establish momentum heading into the business end of the tournament.
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