New Delhi:
Kings Eleven Punjab shall be locking horns against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL encounter at Holkar Stadium, Indore on Monday. The match is scheduled to begin at 8 PM. Kings Eleven Punjab shall start as favourites in the match after beating Rising Pune Supergiant by in their season opener at Indore. Kings skipper Glen Maxwell put up a power packed performance along with Proteas dangerman David Miller to take his side home.
Team Preview
Punjab has a well-oiled batting unit with the likes of Hashim Amla, Manan Vohra, Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan besides having the dangerous Glen Maxwell and David Miller in their ranks.
West Indian allrounder Darren Sammy and Aussie Marcus Stoinis give good balance to their side.Their bowling looks a touch weak and generally revolves around Indian medium pacers Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan. Kiwi speedster Matt Henry is the only overseas seamer in their lineup.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bangalore on the other had had a mixed bag in the season so far losing their opener to Sunrisers Hyderabad but coming back strongly to win their second encounter against Delhi Daredevils.
Bangalore have been dented by the absence of their batting stalwarts AB De Villiers, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul who all are nursing injuries.The Bangalore team still looks strong with a powerpacked lineup including the ever-dangerous Chris Gayle, Shane Watson and Jadhav. Bangalore have the requisite arsenal in the bowling department too. New signing Tymal Mills has been impressive with his pace and variations besides Y Chahal casting a web with his leg spin.
Likely XI: Hashim Amla, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Likely XI: Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Stuart Binny, Vishnu Vinod, Pawan Negi, Sreenath Aravind, Tymal Mills, Yuzvendra Chahal, Billy Stanlake
What to expect: The ground conditions would be much cooler on Monday. A strip is expected to be a flat track with a tinge of grass. A run-fest is on the cards for sure.
Head to Head
Kings Eleven Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
The two sides have met each other 18 times so far over the course of the IPL with Punjab winning 10 of those encounters. Bangalore have tasted victory in 8 encounters. So it has been pretty even stevens between the two sides.
So it is all set for an absorbing encounter later on Thursday evening at Indore, with both sides aiming to secure points and move up the table.
