A 5-pointer going into the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings tie at the Chinnaswamy stadium today
BOWL-ERR
RCB’s ’24 campaign is just a match old but their bowling was exposed during the 6-wicket defeat to CSK in the IPL opener. The spinners did not have enough resources to exploit a gradually slowingdown pitch as Mayank Dagar, Karn Sharma and Glenn Maxwell bowled five overs between them and managed 37 for 1, without troubling the batters after RCB scored 173 for 6
The RCB pacers blindly followed a shortpitch ball strategy. Mohammed Siraj, Alzarri Joseph, in particular, and Yash Dayal zealously used the quota of two bouncers per over but sacrificed their control over line and length. It reflected in their run-giving rate too — Siraj (9.5), Joseph (10.3), Dayal (9.3)
‘Luru Run Fest
The Bangalore bowlers will have to be careful on a home pitch tailor-made for batters to take them to task. The Chinnaswamy stadium holds the record of teams scoring more than 200 runs in an innings on most occasions --27 times, and the average first innings score in the IPL at the venue is 172. A returning Virat Kohli, skipper Faf du Plessis and Maxwell would find the reading attractive
Punjabi English
Punjab Kings are a dangerous side, as they showed against a more fancied Delhi Capitals, producing a clinical effort while chasing down 174 in 19.2 overs on Saturday. English cricketers, who form the team’s backbone, took them home with Sam Curran (63) and Liam Livingstone (unbeaten 38) firing
The Shikhar Dhawan-led side have their own set of problems as lack of runs from Jonny Bairstow, whose Indian marathon encompasses last
