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KXIP needs a win to qualify for the playoffs, RCB has nothing to lose. Who wins this enticing fixture?

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who still have a mathematical possibility of making it to the play-offs, have headaches of their own. A dominant batting display from Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers helped them stem a two-match losing streak, but one of the most supported franchise haven’t registered back-to-back victories since the 2016 season, where they finished as runners-up.

 

KXIP needs a win to qualify for the playoffs, RCB has nothing to lose. Who wins this enticing fixture?

Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore will face each other in the upcoming clash scheduled at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. While the tournament is racing towards its second league, the race to end in top four has become more enthralling and fierce.

 

A fortnight into the season, Kings XI Punjab were placed on top of the table with five wins from six matches. However, since then, their fortunes have headed southwards; KXIP have posted only one win in their next five matches, and hence find themselves locked in a survival race. In their most recent outing, KXIP were blown away by the Kolkata Knight Riders, who posted 245-6 – the highest total of the season.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore are standing at a position where they can’t afford a single loss as it will end their journey towards top four spots. Kings XI Punjab which is struggling with the poor form of their players will have to win each of their remaining fixtures if they face a defeat in today’s fixture.

 

Virat Kohli’s team has not won two consecutive matches this season, and this is the time for them to set right that trend; RCB cannot afford one more loss, and they need to win this to stay in contention for a playoff spot. In the context of the tournament, RCB has played the perfect match – or had the complete performance – only once in the competition; it is now time to get all departments firing in unison.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by four wickets when they faced Kings XI Punjab earlier in the season. Kings XI Punjab will be playing at their home ground in Indore, but they have lost three of their last four matches here. There is going to be a lot more pressure on RCB who must win this game to keep themselves alive in the tournament.

 

Head to Head Between Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

In last five matches, KXIP won two matches out of five matches whereas RCB won three matches out of five games. In overall encounters, KXIP won 12 games and RCB won 9 games. At this venue, they played on the game against each other where King XI Punjab defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets.

 

Kings XI Punjab Predicted Playing 11

Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Karun Nair, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore Predicted Playing 11

Parthiv Patel (wk), Moeen Ali, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

 

KXIP vs RCB Prediction

While Royal Challengers Bangalore will gain some confidence from their win in the last game, Kings XI Punjab will be disappointed after having lost their last two matches. Though the latter will be playing at their home ground, they won't be having any psychological advantage as they have lost three of their last four matches played here. Also, a lot of unnecessary tinkering is going on in KXIP's middle order and skipper Ravichandran Ashwin is being criticised for the same reason. Apart from that, their team selection has been questionable in the past few games. While it is true that there is going to be a lot more pressure on RCB, we feel that they have a good chance of beating the KXIP who are still searching for their right combination.

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