<p>After their first set of four matches each, Royal Challengers Bangalore were looking up -- from the bottom of the table, of course – while their rivals in Friday’s match, Kings XI Punjab, dabbled with the top three places. After a wash-out and three straight wins, Royal Challengers have reinstalled themselves as strong contenders for the knockouts even as Kings XI have tapered away with three successive defeats.<br /><br />After a week-long well-deserved break, the Challengers will return to action seeking to maintain their winning momentum, while Kings XI will look to regain the lost flow. Where Royal Challengers have shown massive improvement in their all-round performance, helped in no small measure by the arrival of Chris Gayle, Kings XI have seen a steady dip that has coincided with lack of runs from find-of-the-season Paul Valthaty and skipper Adam Gilchrist.<br /><br />The owner of the highest individual score this season, Valthaty put Kings XI’s campaign back on track with a blistering unbeaten 120 against Chennai Super Kings, and then followed it up with an equally brutal 75 against Deccan Chargers to take IPL IV by storm.<br /><br /> Since those two knocks, the Mumbai batsman has gone cold and so have Kings XI’s fortunes. The lack of runs from Gilchrist’s blade hasn’t helped their cause much either.<br /><br />While it may appear a bit unfair to single out just two individuals for the team’s struggles, a glance at the pattern of the top sides’ performances proves that the openers have had a great a role in their present position in the top half. Be it Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians or Michael Hussey for Super Kings or for that matter Royal Challengers, who have turned their sagging campaign on its head thrrough the inspirational presence of Gayle. <br /><br />With due respect to team’s highest run-getter Virat Kohli’s fabulous run of scores, it must be said that Gayle has had the biggest influence in wresting Challengers’ status as one of the better sides in IPL. While the explosive left-hander has provided some much-needed firepower (177 runs at a strike-rate of over 186) at the top of the order, his handy off-spinners and tight fielding have come as a bonus.<br /><br />His free-scoring ways have also taken the pressure off Kohli, who has begun to bat with more freedom and better results. A temporary Orange Cap holder, the young right-hander has been RCB’s mainstay with 294 runs. A meaty show from opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, set to depart to England to lead Sri Lanka in a full-fledged series after the Rajasthan Royals’ match on May 11 in Jaipur, has been long overdue; RCB can do with some forceful displays from AB de Villiers.<br /><br />The bowling, which lacked bite in the initial part of the tournament, appears to have grown in strength with spearhead Zaheer Khan slipping into a nice rhythm, while local boy Abhimanyu Mithun was particularly impressive in the match against Pune Warriors. After taking stick in the previous games, the right-arm quick showed great character in bouncing back in style. <br /><br />It’s obvious that his State-mate S Arvind’s good show has inspired him on to put in that extra yard. Though there is a sameness to the spin attack, what with skipper Daniel Vettori and Syed Mohammad being left-arm spinners, the duo appears to be the best bet for RCB at this moment.<br /><br />If only the hosts can maintain the same intensity in the field that they showed against the Warriors the other night, a fourth win on the trot isn’t a distant possibility. <br /><br />Teams (from): Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori (capt), Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mohammad Kaif, Saurabh Tiwary, Abhimanyu Mithun, Zaheer Khan, Syed Mohammad, S Arvind, Johan van der Wath, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ryan Ninan, Mayank Agarwal, Asad Pathan, Charl Langeveldt, Rilee Rossouw, CM Gautam, Luke Pomersbach, Nuwan Pradeep, Abrar Kazi, KB Arun Karthik, <br />Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (capt), Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh, Sunny Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Abhishek Nayar, Bipul Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris, Bhargav Bhatt, Ryan McLaren, Amit Yadav, Siddharth Chatnis, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Nathan Rimmington, Shalabh Srivastava, Love Ablish, Paras Dogra, David Hussey, Vikramjeet Malik.</p>
<p>After their first set of four matches each, Royal Challengers Bangalore were looking up -- from the bottom of the table, of course – while their rivals in Friday’s match, Kings XI Punjab, dabbled with the top three places. After a wash-out and three straight wins, Royal Challengers have reinstalled themselves as strong contenders for the knockouts even as Kings XI have tapered away with three successive defeats.<br /><br />After a week-long well-deserved break, the Challengers will return to action seeking to maintain their winning momentum, while Kings XI will look to regain the lost flow. Where Royal Challengers have shown massive improvement in their all-round performance, helped in no small measure by the arrival of Chris Gayle, Kings XI have seen a steady dip that has coincided with lack of runs from find-of-the-season Paul Valthaty and skipper Adam Gilchrist.<br /><br />The owner of the highest individual score this season, Valthaty put Kings XI’s campaign back on track with a blistering unbeaten 120 against Chennai Super Kings, and then followed it up with an equally brutal 75 against Deccan Chargers to take IPL IV by storm.<br /><br /> Since those two knocks, the Mumbai batsman has gone cold and so have Kings XI’s fortunes. The lack of runs from Gilchrist’s blade hasn’t helped their cause much either.<br /><br />While it may appear a bit unfair to single out just two individuals for the team’s struggles, a glance at the pattern of the top sides’ performances proves that the openers have had a great a role in their present position in the top half. Be it Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians or Michael Hussey for Super Kings or for that matter Royal Challengers, who have turned their sagging campaign on its head thrrough the inspirational presence of Gayle. <br /><br />With due respect to team’s highest run-getter Virat Kohli’s fabulous run of scores, it must be said that Gayle has had the biggest influence in wresting Challengers’ status as one of the better sides in IPL. While the explosive left-hander has provided some much-needed firepower (177 runs at a strike-rate of over 186) at the top of the order, his handy off-spinners and tight fielding have come as a bonus.<br /><br />His free-scoring ways have also taken the pressure off Kohli, who has begun to bat with more freedom and better results. A temporary Orange Cap holder, the young right-hander has been RCB’s mainstay with 294 runs. A meaty show from opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, set to depart to England to lead Sri Lanka in a full-fledged series after the Rajasthan Royals’ match on May 11 in Jaipur, has been long overdue; RCB can do with some forceful displays from AB de Villiers.<br /><br />The bowling, which lacked bite in the initial part of the tournament, appears to have grown in strength with spearhead Zaheer Khan slipping into a nice rhythm, while local boy Abhimanyu Mithun was particularly impressive in the match against Pune Warriors. After taking stick in the previous games, the right-arm quick showed great character in bouncing back in style. <br /><br />It’s obvious that his State-mate S Arvind’s good show has inspired him on to put in that extra yard. Though there is a sameness to the spin attack, what with skipper Daniel Vettori and Syed Mohammad being left-arm spinners, the duo appears to be the best bet for RCB at this moment.<br /><br />If only the hosts can maintain the same intensity in the field that they showed against the Warriors the other night, a fourth win on the trot isn’t a distant possibility. <br /><br />Teams (from): Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori (capt), Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mohammad Kaif, Saurabh Tiwary, Abhimanyu Mithun, Zaheer Khan, Syed Mohammad, S Arvind, Johan van der Wath, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ryan Ninan, Mayank Agarwal, Asad Pathan, Charl Langeveldt, Rilee Rossouw, CM Gautam, Luke Pomersbach, Nuwan Pradeep, Abrar Kazi, KB Arun Karthik, <br />Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (capt), Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh, Sunny Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Abhishek Nayar, Bipul Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris, Bhargav Bhatt, Ryan McLaren, Amit Yadav, Siddharth Chatnis, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Nathan Rimmington, Shalabh Srivastava, Love Ablish, Paras Dogra, David Hussey, Vikramjeet Malik.</p>
