IPL 2019: KKR win toss, opt to field against RCB; Here are playing XIs

This is the fifth match for RCB and they are still waiting for their first win in this season of IPL. RCB will take on KKR at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium today at 8 pm. Here are the probable XIs

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers of Bangalore (RCB) are desperately looking for a win in the 12th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019). After four defeats, RCB hope to break the duck when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) today (April 5) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Though Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was included in the team in place of Colin de Grandhomme in the last match against Rajasthan Royals, that did not make any difference to the end result. Batsmen are floundering and the bowlers are not able to get wickets at the right time.

This is RCB's fifth match and captain Virat Kohli will have to think well before selecting the team for today's match. RCB have back-to-back home games as they lock horns with Delhi Capitals on Sunday (April 7).

Australia paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile is yet to arrive in India to join the RCB squad. He is likely to be available for the team’s match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Mohali on April 13.

On the eve of the game, RCB wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel said the players were feeling positive despite four straight losses.

“We can't shy away from saying that we are under the pump, that's definitely the case, there is no doubt about it. However, we are quite positive about the team. The kind of team we have, we don't deserve to have lost four games in a row," said Parthiv.

"Even if you look at last game, we didn't field well, bat well or bowl well and still the game went almost to the last ball," he added.

With the Bengaluru pitch set to assist batsmen, fans are expecting a high-scoring affair tonight.

Toss

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field.

Umpires

Anil Chaudhary, Chris Gaffaney, O Nandan, Sadashiv Iyer

Referee

Narayanankutty V

RCB Playing XI

Virat Kohli (c), Parthiv Patel (w), AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, Akshdeep Nath (w), Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj

KKR Playing XI

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (w/c), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishn