Another high-scoring fixture awaits RCB, PBKS in Bengaluru

Fans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru are in for a treat as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are set to play their first home game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, with plenty of runs in store. Their opponents, Punjab Kings (PBKS) are heading to Bengaluru after a win over Delhi Capitals (DC) and they too aren’t short of firepower.

Over the years, RCB have had very little to no home advantage at this venue, but if they are to have any chance of making the playoffs, they need to make the Chinnaswamy their fortress. PBKS, on the other hand, did not have a perfect game against DC by any stretch of imagination, and playing RCB at their home base will be a real test for both their batters and bowlers. 

While RCB recovered well to post a competitive total against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk, they will know that they are capable of a better show, given their batting prowess. Can they click in their first game at home?

RCB vs PBKS head-to-head

Overall – Games 31 | RCB 14 | PBKS 17

H2H in Bengaluru – Games 11 | RCB 6 | PBKS 5

Venue details

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has traditionally been a high-scoring venue and this game will not be any different given that both RCB and PBKS have plenty of power-hitters. In IPL 2023, the average first innings score was 196 and in all seven matches, the captain winning the toss opted to bowl first. But only on three occasions did the team chasing emerge victorious. 

The pacers (9.7) and spinners (9.2) were almost both equally expensive at this venue last season, but the former picked up nearly four (3.9) wickets a match, compared to the spinners who have managed close to two (1.9) wickets per match. 

Weather forecast

The weather is expected to remain clear throughout with no chance of showers. The humidity is expected to be around 33-45% during the match and as a result, dew may not be that big of a factor. 

Things to watch out for

Can Maxwell get among the runs?

Glenn Maxwell’s first-ball duck against CSK certainly dented RCB’s hopes of getting to a match-winning total. He may not have the best of records against PBKS (104 runs at 17.3), but there’s no denying he is key to RCB’s hopes, especially in the middle overs. 

He was destructive against both pace and spin in IPL last season, striking at 195 and 172 respectively, but left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar has been a thorn in his flesh, having had the better of the Australian thrice in 14 balls. 

Since the end of last year’s IPL, Maxwell has scored a couple of T20 hundreds and has struck at 174.4. He could also be a handy bowler in this game, especially with PBKS possessing a couple of left-handers in their top four.

Will Livingstone continue to be at his destructive best?

While Liam Livingstone has a poor record against RCB, having gone past 20 just once in five innings, there is no denying that he is a threat in the middle-order. His strength lies against the pacers against whom he has a strike rate of 214, the highest in IPL since 2022 (Min 200 runs). Moreover, he hits a boundary against them every three balls and a six every six deliveries.

In fact, since IPL 2022, Livingstone has hit six fifties in 24 innings at an average of 37.7, striking at 175, which is terrifying for the opposition. Added to that, is a strike rate of 237 at the death that he could even better given the dimensions at the Chinnaswamy. However, RCB can attack him with spin as he endured a poor 2023 IPL season against them, as he struck at just 95 against them. 

Will RCB’s pace attack step up?

Mohammed Siraj had his best IPL season in 2023, picking up 19 wickets, but he failed to impress in the first game against CSK. None of the 24 balls he bowled would have gone on to hit the stumps.

That’s where RCB would have hoped that their other senior bowler Alzarri Joseph could have been effective, but he too went at 10.40 runs an over. An option to replace him with either Reece Topley or Lockie Ferguson could be considered. In T20s since 2023, Topley has picked up the most wickets (12) in the first over of the innings, while Ferguson is having his best time in T20s, conceding at under six an over and has struck once every 12.3 deliveries – having picked up two or more wickets on four occasions this year.

Probable XIs

RCB - Faf du Plessis* (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell*, Cameron Green*, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wk), Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph/Reece Topley*, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj; Akash Deep/Suyash Prabhudessai  (IP)

PBKS: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow*, Sam Curran*, Liam Livingstone*, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada*, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh; Prabhsmiran Singh/Vidwath Kaverappa (IP)

*Overseas

Squads

RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan

PBKS: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Harpreet Bhatia, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk) (vc), Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Shivam Singh, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Harshal Patel, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Prince Choudhary

Telecast and Streaming Details

The match will be live on Star Sports Network and live-streamed on Jio Cinema. The game will start at 7:30 PM, with the toss happening at 7 PM.

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