Venue
Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Conditions
The pitch proper to form has remained a batting beauty with its short boundaries encouraging shotmaking, yet of late has had help for spinners, despite the dew around things might be a bit difficult.
The Preview
It has been a revival by means of close experiences for Bangalore who have now suffered (and developed triumphant in) two last ball completes against Kolkata and Chennai separately. That means they have now won three out of their last four returning themselves on track despite the fact that not exactly in conflict for a playoff place.
Dale Steyn’s essence has had a huge difference to their lackluster powerplay bowling, and the batting down the request appears to have gotten a genuinely necessary jolt as Moeen Ali. This is the certain outfit that Punjab – who have lost three of their last four – will tackle on Wednesday night as R Ashwin’s men hope to put their playoff campaign back on track. A success should bring them into the best 4 or least dimension on wins with Hyderabad (who play Chennai on Tuesday). The inconvenience is Bangalore is a team they have lost to this season; Wednesday night’s hosts recorded their first win after six back to back misfortunes when they beat Punjab at Mohali. Virat Kohli will looking for the double against a team that has been outflanked by its opponents in recent times.
Fantasy Tips
Like any game at the Chinnaswamy, your dream success depends on punting on the right batsmen who would enjoy playing at this ground and are candidates to earn a volley of points. To find two who fit that description look no further than former Bangalore players KL Rahul (399 runs in 2019, S/R 125)and Chris Gayle (421 runs in 2019, S/R 157) both of whom are likely to enjoy the conditions. But as the Chennai game showed, in its present state the pitch still requests consideration and the need to fabricate an proper innings particularly if there are early wickets. That is the place you can steal a march on your competitors by looking at options such as Mayank Agarwal who really hasn’t lived up to his high standards so far this year. Agarwal too loves a track like the Chinnaswamy however Punjab will do well to recall their capitulation against a similar opposition last year (they were all out for 88 in Indore). Among Bangalore bowlers Steyn and Chahal are pretty much must picks while a Murugan Ashwin or Mohammed Shami can turn out to be game changers.
Likely Playing XIs
Bangalore:
Wicket-keeper: Parthiv Patel
Batsmen: Virat Kohli(C), AB de Villiers, Aksdeep Nath
All-Rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali
Bowlers: Pawan Negi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini
Punjab:
Wicket-attendant: KL Rahul
Batsmen: Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Mandeep Singh
All-Rounders: Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin(C)
Bowlers: Harpreet Brar, Hardus Viljoen, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami
Match Prediction
Bangalore’s huge hitting ability may just come to the fore again and with a progressively strengthened bowling assault that boasts of the pace of Steyn and of Navdeep Saini, they might just be able to blunt Punjab’s big guns enough to squeeze out another crucial win and keep the outside hopes of making the playoffs alive.
Dotball Prediction XIs:
Favored group for Dotball Head to Head/Small Contests:
Wicket-Keeper: Lokesh Rahul
Batsmen: AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal
All-Rounders: Moeen Ali, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harpreet Brar, Marcus Stoinis
Bowlers: Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Navdeep Saini
Captain: Lokesh Rahul’s 399 runs this season are testimony to his form yet he has an extraordinary preference for this ground (he scored a breezy 47 the last time around) so expect him to score big.
Vice-Captain: Yuzvendra Chahal has been particularly steady and the match may depend on his performance. With 14 wickets already, his strike rate of around 16.7 almost guarantees at least one wicket.
Dotball picks:
Wicket-Keeper: Parthiv Patel
Batsmen: Virat Kohli, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle
All-Rounders: Pawan Negi, Harpreet Brar, Moeen Ali
Bowlers: Dale Steyn, Sam Curran, Murugan Ashwin
Captain: Chris Gayle knows this ground far too well. He has been connecting excellently on his big hits this season. You join the dots.
Vice-Captain: Moeen Ali is an underrated all round performer who has come to the fore lately and is worth a punt for the vice captain slot.
