CLT20 2011: Royal Challengers Bangalore v South Australia Redbacks - Match Preview
The Royal Challengers Bangalore are all set to play a make or break match against South Australian Redbacks, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, today, October 5, 2011.
A win over Redbacks would give the IPL side a chance to progress to the semi-finals of the multi-million tournament, while a defeat tonight would mean end of their Champions League T20 campaign.
The Royal Challenger Bangalore had a stifling start to their CLT20 campaign, losing both of their opening games to Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders before they bounced back with a comprehensive 51-run win over county side Somerset on Monday.
Having thwarted Sabres on Monday night courtesy Chris Gayle’s whirlwind 86 off 46 balls, the hosts would no doubt be a rejuvenated side when they play the Australians in front of a jam-packed Bangalore crowd.
The IPL side will be banking mostly on Chris Gayle, who got off to starts against Warriors and KKR but failed to make it big before the hard-hitting top order batsman cut loose against Sabres and helped the side post a mammoth 20-over total of 206 runs.
Gayle was well complimented by Tillakaratane Dilshan, Virat Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary and Mayank Agarwal, and the Bangalore fans would be expecting the same startling performance from their batters against the Redbacks tonight.
The South Australian skipper, Michael Klinger, has said that have not been thinking only about Gayle.
“One mistake any team can make is to plan too much just for Gayle. Their top four is good and even in the middle they have some good players. Virat Kohli, Dilshan and [Saurabh] Tiwary are all playing really well," said Klinger while talking to the media
reporters ahead of the game.
While defending the intimidating total of 206, Sreenath Arvind and skipper Daniel Vettori were RCB’s big guns with the ball as the county side crumbled under pressure.
The Michael Klinger-led South Australia Redbacks on the other hand, are just a win from a certain spot in the tournament’s final four. They have had a mixed tournament so far as they opened up the campaign with a defeat at the hands of Warriors before crushing
King Khan’s Knight Riders convincingly. The Australians were hoping to extend their winning run by defeating Somerset in their third group match before the rain gods played their part, forcing them to share points with Sabres.
Barring injury or illness, the Redbacks should stick to their playing XI Keeping in view the length of the boundaries and the speed of the outfield, one can expect Shaun Tait making the sidelines once again.
Same goes for the hosts that they will stick to same XI for their final league game.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (From): Daniel Vettori(c), Sreenath Aravind, Mayank Agarwal,Abhimanyu Mithun, Arun Karthik(w), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli,Dirk Nannes, Asad Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary, Syed Mohammad
Jamaluddin, Raju Bhatkal
South Australia (From): Michael Klinger(c), James Smith, Kane Richardson, Gary Putland, Nathan Lyon, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Christian, Shaun Tait, Chadd Sayers, Adil Rashid, Aaron O'Brien,Tim Ludeman(w), Daniel Harris, Tom
Cooper, Cameron Borgas
Tags: