Narrow win lends hope to RCB's sagging season

 

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking to take the confidence from their Monday night's nerve-wracking one-run victory when they clash with Mumbai Indians, who suffered a humiliating defeat in their previous game, in an Indian Premier League match, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.

 

Currently lying at a lowly sixth position in the points table, a win will be crucial for the Royal Challengers to keep their hopes of making the IPL playoffs alive.

 

Snapping the three-match losing streak with back-to-back victories against Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab is expected to hold them in good stead when they play at their own backyard at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

 

In fact, their victory in a nail-biting finish over Kings XI Punjab in Mohali should give the Bangalore outfit a lot of confidence.

 

A loss on Wednesday, however, will land them in big trouble and it would become tougher for them to enter the playoffs.

 

All eyes once again will be on skipper Virat Kohli, whose performance in the ongoing IPL has left oppositions dumbstruck. He is leading the batting chart with 561 runs so far, which includes two centuries and four half-tons.

 

Besides the captain, Royal Challengers Bangalore have also been relying heavily on their star batsman A B de Villiers. The South African proved his prowess yet again last night when he hit a 35-ball 64 to guide the team to a competitive 175. Opener KL Rahul (42) also chipped in with important contribution.

 

Rahul and all-rounder Shane Watson have proved to be important cogs in Bangalore's wheels with some crucial knocks.

 

With the likes of Chris Gayle warming the bench, the Royal Challengers perhaps have the most intimidating batting line-up, but their pedestrian bowling attack has failed to defend 180-plus scores in most of the matches.

 

Their two best performers with the ball have been Watson and Yuzvendra Chahal but the likes of Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron and Chris Jordan have all leaked runs.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers would have to put up a much better performance to support the team's batting department.