IPL 2018: Match preview of Bangalore vs Punjab
Bangalore vs Punjab
Virat Kohli-led team will be keen to open their account in the eleventh edition of IPL
Virat Kohli-led Bangalore on Friday will face rejuvenated Punjab in their second encounter in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
Bangalore, who will be playing at their home ground - M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, will be keen to open their account after being defeated in their opening match against Kolkata.
The IPL franchise got a few tactics wrong in that match and they will not want to repeat those mistakes.
Punjab will feature three Karnataka players in their line-up, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair. These three represent Karnataka in the Indian domestic circuit and have a fairly better idea of the Bengaluru wicket.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock and Chris Woakes add to Bangalore's firepower, making their batting line-up look top class.
In bowling, Bangalore spinners had a terrible day on the field in their opening fixture as both Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar were milked for runs.
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Among the pacers, only Umesh Yadav and Chris Woakes made an impact and with only five bowling options to choose from, this will be a concern for skipper Virat Kohli.
Th team also kept losing wickets in the middle overs against Kolkata and arresting the fall of wickets at regular intervals is something that needs to be addressed.
Meanwhile, Punjab seem a lot more balanced but one area that they will be looking at is to stop leaking runs in the powerplay and the death overs.
Bangalore's line-up features some of the biggest strikers of the game and it is imperative that the inexperienced seamers get their line and lengths right.
There will be several players to watch out for in today's match.
The franchise will have high expectation from KL Rahul, who scored the fastest-fifty in the IPL history.
Then, middle-order batsman Karun Nair who also impressed everyone with his 33-ball fifty.
The other player to watch out for is Punjab's mystery spinner- Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who became the youngest to play in the IPL and took two wickets against Delhi.
Further, if Chris Gayle opens the batting then his knowledge of the conditions might well make him the deadliest in the lineup.
The toss also plays an important role as four of the last five T20 matches played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium have been won by the side that has bowled first.