Challengers hope to scuttle KKR's plans

RCB play their last home game

Can’t defend, can’t chase. That’s been the sorry tale of Royal Challengers Bangalore this Indian Premier League season.

For a side that prided on its strength to chase down any target, it has been one big climb-down insofar as its batting fortunes are concerned. Friday’s capitulation against Kings XI Punjab in another modest chase (139) once again laid bare their batting frailties that have been hard to comprehend. Skipper Virat Kohli was at a loss to explain the repeated failures of his team’s famed line-up that has become the butt of some cruel jokes.
Only the brave can bet on RCB’s win when they take on a formidable Kolkata Knight Riders in their last home match of this horror season here at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday afternoon. 

The injuries to some of their key players did take a heavy toll in the initial part of their campaign but with most of them back in the fold, RCB have little to offer as excuse for their losses. The trio of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers, which sent shivers down bowlers’ spine, has been a pale shadow of its not too distant past. The rival bowlers may still respect them for what they are but it won’t be wrong to suggest that the intimidation factor isn’t any longer there.

Kohli was right in repeatedly admonishing his team-mates for their lack of intent while batting but even the positive approach they have embraced in the last couple of games has done little to change their luck. Perhaps RCB are not playing the situations smartly.
When they needed to show aggression in some of their early matches, they came across as too timid and when they were required to display some judiciousness, they were unnecessarily belligerent and the match against Kings XI was a case in point. Chasing 139, all they needed to do was play proper cricketing shots and take the team past the line. Instead, we saw the likes of Kohli and de Villiers go for ambitious strokes and pay the price.

While the bottom-placed RCB are struggling to get out of the rut, Knight Riders (on 14 points) would be hoping to cash in on their rivals’ downward spiral and get back to winning ways after two consecutive losses. In the first of their last two defeats, KKR ran into a brick wall called David Warner who struck this IPL’s fastest hundred. In the second against Pune Supergiant, their batting appeared a bit wobbly in the absence of an in-form Robin Uthappa. The right-hander, who missed the last match due to hamstring injury, took a few throw-downs during Saturday’s practice and it remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to play.

What would have pleased Kolkata even more is the return of Chris Lynn who struck a 41-ball 93 against Gujarat Lions in their opening match before he got injured while fielding in a later match. The all-rounder took active part in the ‘nets’ on Saturday and assistant coach Simon Katich said the Aussie was available to be picked. If so, Lynn will link up with Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order, further bolstering Kolkata’s batting. 
Given their contrasting run, RCB are clear underdogs on Sunday but they are capable of emerging the big dog. And they owe it to their fans.