IPL 5 – Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – Match Preview
Deccan Chargers will play Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday in the 71th fixture of the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.
The Chargers are only playing to restore some pride before the end of the season but RCB has everything to lose in the match and it is a must-win game for the franchise, in order to qualify for the play-offs.
RCB has had a mixed season as the team is still struggling to find the right combination. Such is the confusion in the camp that the regular captain, Daniel Vettori, is not able to find a place in the playing XI, which is quite an extra-ordinary situation for a team at this level of the sport.
Not surprisingly, the former West Indies captain, Chris Gayle, has played out of his skin in the current season. The destructive left-handed batsman from Jamaica played an astonishing knock in the previous game against Delhi Daredevils as he smashed 128 runs off only 62 balls, which included seven boundaries and 13 sixes.
Gayle rates the knock against Delhi as the best of his career and expressed that he was under immense pressure before the game as his team is in dire need of points to make it to the last four of the tournament.
One gets a feeling that if Bangalore is to move forward in the tournament, Gayle will have to play another big innings against Deccan.
The biggest positive for Bangalore in the previous match was the return to form of Virat Kohli. The right-handed batsman has been out of touch for most part of the tournament but he ably supported Gayle in a magnificent partnership against the Daredevils.
Three biggest threats for Deccan will be Gayle, Kohli and AB de Villiers. The South African limited-overs captain bats in the lower-middle order for his franchise but he has still made a massive impact on the tournament with his innovative batting in the death overs.
However, the major concern for RCB remains its lackluster bowling. Apart from Muttiah Muralitharan, none of the bowlers have been able to make an impression for the franchise. In order to dismantle some of the bigger teams in the tournament, Bangalore must get its act together with the ball.
On the other side of the coin, Deccan has had an awful season and the team is desperately looking for an honourable finish to the league. Kumar Sangakkara opted to rest in the previous match against Rajasthan Royals and his team did well to gain two points. The former Australian T20 captain, Cameron White, led the team in Sangakkara’s absence.
After spoiling the party for the Royals, White vows to do the same with RCB, but in order to do so, Deccan must plan about getting rid of Gayle very early in the innings.
“We need to win [match against RCB] and that's our main goal. It is a modified plan which will be discussed in the team meeting. He [Gayle] is batting really well," White expressed.
RCB is going to be firm-favourite in this match but one cannot underrate any team in this format of the game as things can change very quickly. Let us wait and watch if RCB is able to make its way to the next round of the tournament.
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