The Super Saturday battle between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings can be dubbed as the clash of batsmen. Both teams have issues with their bowling but their ace batsmen have flourished, more so from CSK.
The MCA Stadium, a not-too-big ground with a friendly wicket, is a set stage for the batsmen to come and hog the limelight. RCB head coach Daniel Vettori, however, felt that the side that’s bowls good on the day will walk away with the spoils.
“I think we are really satisfied with the way we bowled in the last game (against Mumbai Indians),” said the Kiwi at the pre-match press conference here on Friday. “I think we got our combination right. (Tim) Southee has been exceptional, (Mohammed) Siraj has been improving and (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Umesh (Yadav) are tight as ever. So I think we are confident of this group. We also know how good a team Chennai is. Batting may play an important part given how good the surface is here but ultimately execution with the ball will be the defining factor in the game.”
Apart from bowling, another area RCB need to improve is middle and lower-middle order. Only Mandeep Singh has put his hand up while others are yet to show consistency. Vettori felt Colin de Grandhomme is picking up the pace slowly. “I think Colin did a great job in the last game. I think the 20-odd runs he scored (in the last over) was the reason why we won the game (against MI). Really satisfied with how Colin has come into the team. I think Mandeep has been consistent. Finishing plays a part when you don’t do well at the top. We have done well at the top with the experienced four batsmen generally batting well.”
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