Tag: Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB vs KKR IPL 2024 highlights: KKR becomes first away team to win a match in IPL 2024

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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RCB vs KKR Live Score, IPL 2024: RCB finds the breakthrough and dismisses Sunil Narine at 47 off 22 balls

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

All-rounder Ellyse Perry takes RCB to WPL playoffs after defeating Mumbai Indians

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Ellyse Perry made a comeback with both bat (40 off 38) and ball (6/15) and led their team to the Women’s Premier League 2024 play-offs. RCB had a troubled season in the first edition of WPL however, Smriti Mandhana and company entered their play-offs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

Ellyse smashed a boundary and gave all the RCB fans a reason to celebrate. Perry also became the Player fo the Match said, “Really nice to play a great match with the girls. It was an important game and nice to get a win over them – first time in the competition. I really enjoyed bowling. Sometimes, I am just getting walloped all around the ground, then some days it is like this. The ball nipped around a little bit and it was fun. (On if her all-round game is at her best) The games are coming thick and fast and you don’t know. You turn up and have a go. I loved that partnership with Richa. It was a tricky chase, not the easiest wicket tonight”.

Must Win Game ✅@RCBTweets become the third & final team to qualify for the #TATAWPL Play-offs 😍 👏#MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/wWkrptdQab

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 12, 2024

The proud captain of RCB, Smriti Mandhana also complimented Perry for her resilience and great character on field. ” For her (Perry) to come back and take those six wickets, I was just going ‘wow’. We spoke about today being a quarter-final. We did not think about the scenarios, wanted to win and just qualify. Would not have been a good thing to qualify without winning this match, really happy we could do that”, she said in the post match presentation.

We made it to the playoffs and how! 🙌 Coach Luke wanted the best performance of the tournament and the team delivered. Check out the happy reactions from the dressing room! 🥹🤩 #PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #WPL2024 #SheIsBold #MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/LwnxFfUCvn

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 13, 2024

The Perry Show! ⚡️⚡️

Four timber strikes and a six-wicket haul for Ellyse Perry 😲

Live 💻📱https://t.co/Xs3l4AyJSz#TATAWPL | #MIvRCB | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/uTjVaem5tP

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 12, 2024

If taking 6 wickets wasn’t enought, Perry also batted till the end and took the game home on a pitch which has not given many positive results to RCB.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2023 MI vs RCB preview: Mumbai and Bangalore clash to stay relevant in playoff race

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With the race for playoffs intensifying, captain Rohit Sharma’s form with the bat and bowling in the death overs will be a huge concern for hosts Mumbai Indians when they meet Royal Challengers Bangalore in a mid-table IPL clash here on Tuesday.

With 184 runs in 10 matches at a forgettable average of 18.39 and a solitary half-century, Sharma is enduring a second consecutive poor season with the bat.

For the sixth-placed Mumbai Indians to move up in the points table, it is imperative that their best batter in the line-up fires.

Sharma’s role in this IPL has been to provide brisk starts at the top, and at times he has had some success too, but consistency has deserted the right-arm batter whose early dismissal in huge chases has only added pressure on a relatively new batting line-up, which fortunately, from MI’s point of view, has delivered too.

Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mark Boucher admitted a few games ago that consistency could get compromised if any batter goes out of his way to look for runs, but for Sharma, one of the highest run-getters in the IPL, it is becoming a pattern.

In last year’s IPL, which also was MI’s poorest in terms of performance as they finished last, Sharma averaged a little over 19 while scoring 268 runs in 14 matches.

However, with Sharma not firing at the top, MI have had the likes of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green consolidating in the middle while Tilak Varma and Tim David have also found their groove as finishers late in the order.

MI tried taking pressure off Sharma by sending him at No. 3 in their last game against Chennai Super Kings, but it was a move that worked for none of the parties involved. Sharma endured his second consecutive duck and fourth single-digit score on the trot while an otherwise firing Green fell for six at the opening slot.

MI could only make a poor 139/8 in CSK’s homeground, losing an away game to their arch rivals for the first time in 13 years.

At the same time, Mumbai Indians will also be concerned about their death overs bowling, having conceded four consecutive totals in excess of 200 while bowling first, two of which were recorded on flat decks here at the Wankhede Stadium.

On the other hand, RCB will hope that their troika of Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell fire at the top, since whenever they have done so collectively, the team has found itself mostly on the right side of the results.

Mahipal Lomror struck a quality 54 against Delhi Capitals but his knock was not enough as RCB suffered a shock defeat, which kept them at the fifth spot in the points table with five wins and as many defeats in 10 matches.

With 511 runs, Du Plessis is the only batter this season to have crossed the 500-run mark and RCB will hope that their skipper gets going with others in his tow to a big total if they bat first.

But it remains to be seen if RCB have more in their batting shelf apart from the big three, who have done the heavy lifting so far in the IPL. Dinesh Karthik has failed with the bat this season and RCB also do not have a big hitter in their lower-middle order either.

The inclusion of Josh Hazlewood has provided a shot in the arm to RCB’s bowling with Mohammed Siraj at the helm, having snaffled 15 wickets in 10 matches so far.

Teams (from): Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff, Dewald Brevis, Piyush Chawla, Tim David, Raghav Goyal, Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan (wk), Duan Jansen, Chris Jordan, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Hrithik Shokeen, Tristan Stubbs, Arjun Tendulkar, Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Suryakumar Yadav.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Akash Deep, Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Avinash Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Michael Bracewell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Siddarth Kaul, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajan Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma, Sonu Yadav, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kedar Jadhav.

Match starts at 7:30PM IST.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

RCB vs KKR IPL 2023 match 36 preview: Bangalore seek revenge of reverse fixture loss against Kolkata

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In the first reverse fixture of IPL 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are set to welcome Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at their home stadium of M Chinaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

RCB head into this fixture with springs in their steps after recording back-to-back wins over Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their previous two fixtures.

But things are not the same for KKR as they are on a losing streak of four matches. Their latest defeat was against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.

Also Read: DC captain David Warner fined 12 lakh under the IPL’s Code of Conduct

The fortunes of the two teams has meant that while RCB are fifth on the IPL 2023 points table with four wins and three losses from the first seven matches, KKR are stuck on eighth spot managing only two wins while suffering five defeats from their first set of league games.

Safe to say that Wednesday’s encounter is crucial for KKR to keep their playoff hopes alive. Another loss for the Nitish Rana-led side and things will become difficult for his side in the later stage of the tournament.

What transpired between KKR and RCB earlier in the season?

Things were quiet different when the two teams faced-off at the Eden Gardens earlier in the season. It was a match of fluctuating fortunes, where KKR defeated RCB by a handsome margin of 81 runs.

Batting first KKR were propelled to a strong total of 204/7 thanks to a fifty by wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top of the order and a late bluster by Rinku Singh (46 in 33 balls) and whirlwind knock of 68 in 29 deliveries by all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

RCB’s response to the target of 205 was timid as the team was all-out on 123 thanks to a 4-wicket haul by Varun Chakaravarthy and three wickets by debutant Suyash Sharma.

The two teams have experienced contrasting sets of fortune since that match in Kolkata. While KKR’s form has nosedived, RCB have been on the up.

Is Faf du Plessis’ fitness a concern for RCB?

RCB’s regular captain Faf du Plessis has been in sublime form this year. The former South African captain has hit five fifties and accumulated 405 runs to currently hold the Orange Cap. Such has been his form that he is 91 runs clear from his nearest competitor, Devon Conway, in the race to win the Orange Cap.

du Plessis’s suberb run has eased the pressure on the likes of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, who themselves are in goo nick.

But there is a slight concern around du Plessis’ fitness. The RCB skipper sustained a rib injury while batting against CSK. It meant that the 38-year-old was not fit enough to start in the playing XI for the matches against PBKS and RR. However, the team smartly made use of the Impact Player rule to utilize du Plessis only as a batter in the two games. With du Plessis not starting for RCB in the last two games, the burden of captaincy fell on the shoulders of Kohli.

The way the team has performed under Kohli in the last two matches, it looks like the team management will be happy with the way things are, i.e. Kohli continues to captain the team and du Plessis is used as a substitute.

Team’s bowling attack also looks in good shape with fast bowler Mohammed Siraj being the joint-highest wicket-taker of the season with 13 scalps along with Arshdeep Singh. Medium pacer Harshal Patel has also touched double digits this season as his 3 wickets against RR took his wicket tally to 10.

Unsettled KKR

While RCB’s playing XI is more or less stable, KKR still seem to be figuring out their best playing XI with half of the season done and dusted.

The team is tempering with the opening combination frequently. The team’s opening pair in its last five matches have been these: Narayan Jagadeesan-Sunil Narine (vs CSK), Jason Roy-Liton Day (vs DC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz-Narayan Jagadeesan (vs MI, SRH and GT).

Only three batters seem to getting runs at consistent basis for the team at the moment. Venkatesh Iyer is the team’s leading run scorer and has hit a hundred and a fifty. Rinku Singh has slammed two half centuries and captain Nitish Rana has notched one fifty.

In the bowling department, KKR have been too reliant on its spin troika  of Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma and Sunil Narine. Among the three spinners only Chakaravarthy has managed to hit the double digit mark this season.

The lack of wickets from other bowlers can be estimated from the fact that Rana, who is not a regular bowler, has the same number of wickets (2) as premium pacer Umesh Yadav.

Waning form of star all-rounder Andre Russell has also added to team’s issues.

Predicted playing XIs

RCB predicted playing XI:

Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammed Siraj, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harshal Patel

KKR predicted playing XI

N Jagadeesan (wk), Jason Roy, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Suyash Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

CNBCTV18.com winner preeiction: RCB

Player to watch out for

Faf du Plessis (RCB)

RCB captain Faf du Plessis is middling the ball well this season. With 405 runs , he holds the Orange Cap. Most importantly, Virat Kohli seems to be enjoying batting at the top of the order with du Plessis. With the team back at its base, expect du Plessis to entertain the home fans with some more lusty hits.

Rinku Singh (KKR)

Only Rinku Singh seems to be the most consistent KKR batter right now. He has notched the scores of 4,46,48*, 58*, 18,6 and 53* in this campaign. Not to forget his five sixes in five balls against Gujarat Titans that helped KKR snatch a win from the jaws of defeat. Till the time Singh is batting, KKR’s batting  seems to be alive and kicking.

Pitch:

Expect a batting-friendly track at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Where to watch LIVE stream

The match will be telecast on the Star Sports Network and it will be digitally streamed on the JioCinema application. The game will commence at 7:30 pm on Wednesday.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Virat Kohli shares why he puts full energy behind every ball

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Former team India captain and ace batter Virat Kohli has highlighted that he desires to compete at the highest level and has been focussing on his fitness as that has helped him sustain and compete at the highest level in cricket for the last 10 years.

“It is the will to continue to compete at the highest level that actually makes you want to put that energy  every ball that you are part of”, Kohli said in an interview with former cricketer Robin Uthappa on Jio Cinemas.

Also Read: ‘This is the start…’ Sachin Tendulkar’s special note for son Arjun post IPL debut for Mumbai Indians

The same will helps him sustain physical demands of T20 cricket.

“The thing that makes you run non-stop in a T20 game all over the field and then bat, run and hit sixes is the will to do it. When we warm up and play football we can carry on for an hour, but if you ask me to run two laps of the ground I will be gassing out in a lap and a half, cause I am not mentally there, so I figured out mental freshness is the most important thing”, Kohli said, highlighting the importance of mental health in his fitness regime.

But despite taking care of his mental health, Kohli had to deal with mental health issues as things got hectic for him.

“It became difficult (to maintain mental health balance ) for me, I won’t lie. Things got very very hectic. But then you had to step away. In times when everyone is trying to grab more and more and more, I was like if I keep being part of this rat race I am going to go in a space which is very very unhealthy, so me taking time off from the game was probably the most important thing that I needed at that moment”, said Kohli.

Kohli was candid in admitting that a stardom did started to affect him and it started to weigh on him.

“I won’t be dishonest…I was doing that for a long period of time. Till the time that it became so unhealthy where I was trying to live upto the expecations and this idea of Virat Kohli in people’s heads, … like this guy has to operate in this way, he has to present himself in a certain manner and that was eating me up from the inside because I have never been a guy to pretend or portray someone that I am not.” Kohli added.

Also read: Virat Kohli and debutant Vijaykumar Vyshak guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 23-run win

Kohli then give insights into the time when he had stepped away from international cricket last year to take care of his mental health, the time that he labels in the interview as “transnational period”

“the most important factor in that whole transnational period before the Asia Cup last year was the fact that I was willing to let go of everything. I was willing to accept that when I go back and play, it might be the last month of me playing competitive cricket and I am absolutely okay with it. ” Kohli explained.

Kohli said that trying to meet people’s expectations proved unhealthy for him.

“it was actually what they (people) wanted me to be, rather than being myself. To be very honest,  when I met people all around the world they are like ‘we want to enjoy cricket so we want you to get a hundred’, so I was like, so my achievements is something they want to see to make them feel happy, which was weighing me down even more.”  Kohli said.

Kohli further said that because he was not in the right mental space it also became a challenge for him to make the technical corrections in his game.

“Everyone was like, ‘we have observed this and this is the solution to that’, I couldn’t get the point across that whatever shortcomings that you are visually seeing are happening because I am not right here, ” Kohli explained while pointing towards his head.

According to Kohli “when you are not right mentally, your technique is all over the place., cause all you do is to survive. ”

Kohli also acknowledged the role of his wife, Anushka Sharma, in helping him deal with the challenges.

“…that is why I say Anushka’s name first always. Cause she has seen the challenges of being in this position. She knows it. She has been there for so many years. She still understands that what it takes to handle the pressure of a public figure. So her conversations with me have always been priceless, because she tells me the truth. “, said Kohli.

Watch the complete interview of Virat Kohli here.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2023 RCB vs DC highlights: Royal Challengers Bangalore win by 23 runs; Delhi Capitals lose 5 matches in a row

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A devastated Delhi Capitals (DC) side will travel to Bengaluru to take on low on confidence Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in match 20th of the IPL 2023 on  Saturday.

DC remains the only team that is yet to taste success this season. DC’s latest defeat came against five-time champions Mumbai Indians,  when they lost against a last-ball thriller at their home ground of Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

Taking field against DC will be RCB who themselves are recovering from a shock loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in yet another last-ball finish a night earlier at home. It was RCB’s second straight loss after the team began their season by thrashing MI at home.

The losses for DC and RCB has meant that DC are stuck at the foot of the IPL 2023 points table while RCB remain in the bottom half of the points tally irrespective of the Friday’s outcome between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

RCB look to strengthen its bowling with return of Wanindu Hasaranga

RCB’s batting looks settled with the trio of captain Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell all slamming quickfire half-centuries against LSG. For, du Plessis and Kohli it was their second half-centuries of the season after the duo had already notched fifties against MI. What will further bolster RCB’s confidence is the fact that du Plessis and Kohli are enjoying playing at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. The two have struck partnerships of 148 and 96 playing at home.

However it is the bowling that has caused concerns for the team. Only fast bowler Mohammed Siraj and leg spinner Karn Sharma find their names amongst the list of top-20 leading wicket takers this season. Both Siraj and Sharma have picked 5 wickets each from the three matches the two have played so far. The likes of Harshal Patel and David Willey will have to up their game to strengthen the bowling.

But before RCB take field on Saturday, the team’s frail bowling attack will get a shot in the arm as Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has joined the squad after international commitments kept him away for the start of the season.

With 26 scalps, Hasaranga was the second highest wicket taker in IPL 2022. The leggie should immediately find his way back into the team’s playing XI with either David Willey or Wayne Parnell warming the bench.

David Warner is DC’s lone batting warrior

DC have a mountain to climb it the team aims to be in the contention for the playoffs.

Team could draw inspiration from the fact that captain David Warner hit a fighting fifty against MI. It was his third fifty of the season and has kept him firmly in the race to win this season’s Orange Cap.  Then lower down the order Axar Patel followed his captain’s footsteps and notched a half-century of his own, although Patel’s fifty came up at a far more blistering rate.

DC’s weakness is its batting. Except for Warner and Patel, no other DC batter has notched a half-century this season. The likes of Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Lalit Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan and Abhishek Porel are struggling to get big scores.

A weak batting order coupled with an average bowling attack could give us a definite answer into why DC are yet to win a game this season.

Medium pacer Mukesh Kumar is leading the wicket-taking charts for DC this year after claiming 4 wickets. However, it is express pacer Anrich Nortje and willy spinner Kuldeep Yadav who have been DC’s strike bowlers in the seasons gone by. The world is yet to see their best efforts this season as they have picked two wickets each thus far.

The two teams will look to draw positives from the crushing defeats as they look to get their faltering IPL 2023 campaigns back on track.

Predicted playing XIs

RCB predicted playing XI

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Anuj Rawat, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj

DC predicted playing XI

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman

Key player to watch out for

Wanindu Hasaranga (RCB)

Expect Wanindu Hasaranga to make an instant impact on his return to the IPL. Hasaranga has grown into one of T20 cricket’s most potent bowler. In 139 T20 games the leg spinner has picked 188 wickets and bowled at an average of 17.06 and has an economy of 6.78. Hasaranga could be amongst wickets against DC.

Axar Patel (DC)

At the moment, Axar Patel can do no wrong. The all-rounder had a productive Test series against Australia and has carried the good for into IPL 2023 as well. However all his contributions are coming with the bat. But lately Axar’s captains seem to be under utilizing him as the bowler. Should Axar start contributing with the ball too, he will be become a very valuable asset for the team.

Pitch

The pitches at  M.Chinnaswamy Stadium are batting friendly. Expect a high scoring fixture.

Where to Watch?

Television viewers can tune into this game at 3:30 pm on Saturday on the Star Sports network and the digital audience can catch the action at the same in the JioCinema application.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2023 RCB vs DC preview: Royal Challengers and Delhi Capitals seek turnaround at Chinnaswamy stadium

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

A devastated Delhi Capitals (DC) side will travel to Bengaluru to take on low on confidence Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in match 20th of the IPL 2023 on  Saturday.

DC remains the only team that is yet to taste success this season. DC’s latest defeat came against five-time champions Mumbai Indians,  when they lost against a last-ball thriller at their home ground of Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

Taking field against DC will be RCB who themselves are recovering from a shock loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in yet another last-ball finish a night earlier at home. It was RCB’s second straight loss after the team began their season by thrashing MI at home.

The losses for DC and RCB has meant that DC are stuck at the foot of the IPL 2023 points table while RCB remain in the bottom half of the points tally irrespective of the Friday’s outcome between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

RCB look to strengthen its bowling with return of Wanindu Hasaranga

RCB’s batting looks settled with the trio of captain Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell all slamming quickfire half-centuries against LSG. For, du Plessis and Kohli it was their second half-centuries of the season after the duo had already notched fifties against MI. What will further bolster RCB’s confidence is the fact that du Plessis and Kohli are enjoying playing at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. The two have struck partnerships of 148 and 96 playing at home.

However it is the bowling that has caused concerns for the team. Only fast bowler Mohammed Siraj and leg spinner Karn Sharma find their names amongst the list of top-20 leading wicket takers this season. Both Siraj and Sharma have picked 5 wickets each from the three matches the two have played so far. The likes of Harshal Patel and David Willey will have to up their game to strengthen the bowling.

But before RCB take field on Saturday, the team’s frail bowling attack will get a shot in the arm as Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has joined the squad after international commitments kept him away for the start of the season.

With 26 scalps, Hasaranga was the second highest wicket taker in IPL 2022. The leggie should immediately find his way back into the team’s playing XI with either David Willey or Wayne Parnell warming the bench.

David Warner is DC’s lone batting warrior

DC have a mountain to climb it the team aims to be in the contention for the playoffs.

Team could draw inspiration from the fact that captain David Warner hit a fighting fifty against MI. It was his third fifty of the season and has kept him firmly in the race to win this season’s Orange Cap.  Then lower down the order Axar Patel followed his captain’s footsteps and notched a half-century of his own, although Patel’s fifty came up at a far more blistering rate.

DC’s weakness is its batting. Except for Warner and Patel, no other DC batter has notched a half-century this season. The likes of Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Lalit Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan and Abhishek Porel are struggling to get big scores.

A weak batting order coupled with an average bowling attack could give us a definite answer into why DC are yet to win a game this season.

Medium pacer Mukesh Kumar is leading the wicket-taking charts for DC this year after claiming 4 wickets. However, it is express pacer Anrich Nortje and willy spinner Kuldeep Yadav who have been DC’s strike bowlers in the seasons gone by. The world is yet to see their best efforts this season as they have picked two wickets each thus far.

The two teams will look to draw positives from the crushing defeats as they look to get their faltering IPL 2023 campaigns back on track.

Predicted playing XIs

RCB predicted playing XI

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Anuj Rawat, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj

DC predicted playing XI

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman

Key player to watch out for

Wanindu Hasaranga (RCB)

Expect Wanindu Hasaranga to make an instant impact on his return to the IPL. Hasaranga has grown into one of T20 cricket’s most potent bowler. In 139 T20 games the leg spinner has picked 188 wickets and bowled at an average of 17.06 and has an economy of 6.78. Hasaranga could be amongst wickets against DC.

Axar Patel (DC)

At the moment, Axar Patel can do no wrong. The all-rounder had a productive Test series against Australia and has carried the good for into IPL 2023 as well. However all his contributions are coming with the bat. But lately Axar’s captains seem to be under utilizing him as the bowler. Should Axar start contributing with the ball too, he will be become a very valuable asset for the team.

Pitch

The pitches at  M.Chinnaswamy Stadium are batting friendly. Expect a high scoring fixture.

Where to Watch?

Television viewers can tune into this game at 3:30 pm on Saturday on the Star Sports network and the digital audience can catch the action at the same in the JioCinema application.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

WATCH: Virat Kohli shares a cute moment with Ricky Ponting’s son

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ahead of Delhi Capitals (DC) clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (DC) at at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, the two teams shared a moment that left everyone with smiles.

The DC’ official Twitter handle shared a video in which RCB super star Virat Kohli is seen meeting DC head coach Ricky Ponting and his son Fletcher William.

Kohli then quips that he has met the young lad outside as the Australian World Cup-winning captain went on to have a nice conversation with Kohli later on.

Delhi has been undergoing a torrid campaign so far, having lost all of their four league games and sitting at the bottom of the points table at the moment. They underwent a crushing defeat to the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the previous match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital.

Watch the video here:

Jab Ricky Met Kohli 🥺
Extended Cameo: Ricky Jr 👶🏻#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2023 #ViratKohli #KingKohli #RCBvDC | @imVkohli | @RickyPonting pic.twitter.com/0LegGmLtga

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 13, 2023

Here’s how fans reacted to his video: 

I’m seeing Master of Cover drive and Pull shot in a single frame 🔥

— 𝙂𝙉𝘼𝙉  (@Oruteakudingee) April 13, 2023

Goat meeting Goat 🐐❤🐐

— , (@itz_jdtweetz) April 13, 2023

Two 🐐 of Cricket

— Aarav (@sigma__male_) April 13, 2023

King meets Don of cricket.

— Keshav (@katkohli) April 13, 2023

King meets Don of cricket.

— Keshav (@katkohli) April 13, 2023

King meets Don of cricket.

— Keshav (@katkohli) April 13, 2023

Viv-Ponting-Kohli – equivalents of their eras

— Transponster Jay (@Jay_KD77) April 13, 2023

Viv-Ponting-Kohli – equivalents of their eras

— Transponster Jay (@Jay_KD77) April 13, 2023

Australians loves and admire king kohli 👑

Absolutely legend

— Humpty (@Humpty_home) April 13, 2023

Goat of India × Goat of Australia

— Gaurav (@Melbourne__82) April 13, 2023

Similarly, RCB have lost their last two games to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) respectively. They commenced their campaign brilliantly by defeating the Mumbai Indians (MI) at home and will be hoping to take advantage of a depleted Delhi unit in their home ground.
Meanwhile, Kohli has roared back in form this season and has been looking in great touch, having already notched 164 runs in three innings.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPL 2023 RCB v LSG: Pooran, Stoinis lead remarkable comeback as Lucknow Super Giants stun Royal Challengers Bangalore in last-ball thriller

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pulled off a miraculous victory by chasing down 213 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.

Down at 23/3 in the fourth over, the duo of Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (65 off 30) and Caribbean wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran (62 off 19) propelled the visitors to a win from a seemingly impossible situation.

Pooran, particularly, came into bat in the 12^th over with the required run rate climbing over 12 runs per over. The southpaw struck seven sixes along with four boundaries to take the game away from RCB with their frontline bowlers like Wayne Parnell and Harshal Patel leaking 41 and 48 runs respectively in their four-over spells.

23-year-old Ayush Badoni stuck around for 24 deliveries, scoring 30 runs and bagging four boundaries whilst bringing his team within touching distance of a victory before getting hit wicket in the penultimate over. The LSG top-order failed to step up in this massive chase with Kyle Mayers and Krunal Pandya getting dismissed for a duck and Deepak Hooda only scored nine runs batting at number three.

A lot of drama unfolded in the 20^th over as Harshal Patel tried to run Ravi Bishnoi out at the non-striker’s end whereas wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik ended up fumbling an attempt to hit the stumps in the final delivery of the game. However, LSG kept at it in the chase despite losing steam early on and secured their third win of the campaign.

Dynamic RCB at Chinnaswamy

Earlier, RCB hit 212 whilst losing just a couple of wickets. Firstly, Virat Kohli took down the LSG pace attack in style particularly in the powerplay overs.

Kohli struck four boundaries and sixes each en route his 61 runs off 44 deliveries. His opening partner and skipper Faf du Plessis bided his time as long as Kohli was going great guns at the other end. When Kohli departed, Faf assumred greater responsibility and hit five boundaries and maximums each as he rounded off his innings unbeaten with a strike rate of 171.74 as he notched 79 runs in 46 deliveries.

Glenn Maxwell roared back into form and in some style as he raced to 59 runs in merely 29 balls, which included a whopping six sixes. Bowlers across both teams struggled to hit their lengths consistently as the batsmen undertook an attacking approach and capitalised on the shorter boundaries by taking on the opposition almost fearlessly at times.

Captain’s Corner

“Disappointed. They played well through the middle. One ball one run. We backed ourselves to get a run-out. Just looking at the wicket, from 7-14 it was quite slower. The last five overs it started skidding on. Really good for some good cricketing shots. Stoinis and Pooran played everything off the middle,” RCB skipper reflected on the proceedings in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“This is the Chinnaswamy, only venue where so many last-ball finishes are possible. From the position we were in, to end up winning it, is superb. We had to go hard and the ball swung early, and they got 2-3 wickets to put the pressure on us. The only reason we got two points today is for the way the lower order batted,” LSG captain KL Rahul heaped praise on the performance of the lower middle-order.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tata IPL 2023 RCB vs LSG highlights: Stoinis, Pooran hit fifties to help Lucknow Super Giants sneak in a last-ball win

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will face the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday in the 16^th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

LSG come into this game on the back of a comprehensive victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at home on Friday. They spun a web around the Aiden Markram-led side courtesy impressive performances from the trio of Ravi Bishnoi, Krunal Pandya and Amit Mishra to restrict the Sunrisers to only 121 runs in 20 overs.

Lucknow then chased down the target with ease in 16 overs and will they will take a lot of confidence from that outing when they square off against Bangalore albeit in completely different playing conditions on Monday.

Also Read: Rinku Singh goes 6,6,6,6 and 6 against Yash Dayal to pull of a stunning run chase for Kolkata Knight Riders

Bangalore, on the other hand, will hope to bounce back strongly from their dismal 81-run loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. The Bangalore batsmen had cruised to their target in their opening game of the season against the Mumbai Indians (MI) and a return to familiar conditions in the Chinnaswamy will possibly help them resurrect their form against Lucknow.

LSG will be pondering upon making space for Quinton de Kock in the playing XI. The South African opener scored 540 runs in the previous campaign and finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the league. However, Kyle Mayers’ consecutive half-centuries in the first two games kept de Kock out of the playing XI considering now they have Nicholas Pooran keeping the wickets as well. The southpaw scored only 13 runs against Hyderabad though and it remains to be seen if the Lucknow management opt to shake things up to accommodate de Kock.

Bangalore can ward off the loss as a one-off affair and not really make any forced changes due to the same. Their star leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga will be available for selection and that can open up a lot of wicket-taking avenues for them in the middle-overs.

Also read | GT vs KKR: Rashid’s hat-trick, Rinku’s five sixes in last over and Kolkata Knight Riders miraculous run chase

Predicted Playing XI:

RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Michael Bracewell, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma.

Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror

LSG: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Mark Wood.

Impact Player: Amit Mishra

Key Player To Watch

Glenn Maxwell (RCB)

RCB looked at their dominant best when their openers took on the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) bowlers fearlessly in the first game. However, that approach might result in them losing their wickets early on at times and Glenn Maxwell will have to assume a lot of batting responsibility in that case.

The track at Chinnaswamy suits his playing style but the all-rounder might often have to both build and finish the innings. Maxwell will need to start showing up more prominently with the bat if RCB are to have a good season and it would be better if he gets in the groove early on in the campaign.

Krunal Pandya (LSG)

Krunal Pandya demonstrated admirable bowling smarts as he tore apart the SRH batting unit as he dismissed three of their batsmen for 18 runs in his four-over spell. That game awareness will again come to the fore when he bowls to the Bangalore batsmen in the shorter boundaries on offer at Chinnaswamy.

That coupled with his new promotion to number four in the batting order puts added responsibility on the Baroda all-rounder and it will be interesting to see if he can put forth similarly impressive performances on a consistent basis this season.

Pitch Report

The average first innings batting score in 16 T20Is in Chinnaswamy is 135 but trend suggests that a fairly high-scoring encounter could be on the cards on Monday.

Where to Watch

Television users can tune into the action on the Star Sports Network at 7:30 pm. Digital viewers can catch the live action on the JioCinema application at the same time.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow