Bangalore takes on Rajasthan in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader in Indian T20 League 2020.
Team Preview
The first game of the doubleheader will be played between Bangalore and Rajasthan. After winning two out of two in Sharjah, Rajasthan tested their first defeat of the tournament. Kolkata exposed Rajasthan’s middle-order in Dubai and this one game created some question in Smith’s mind. After a decent bowling display, Rajasthan’s batting unit shattered badly and the middle-order didn’t even take a charge. Tom Curran scored a half-century to reduce the losing margin and the Pink outfit slipped to third in the table. Rajasthan now makes travel to Abu Dhabi to play their first game on this track. Smith is optimistic about his side but he might take a call on Uthappa and Riyan Parag. Until Stokes join the squad, they require a good middle-order here to give some balance to the side.
Meanwhile, Bangalore scripted a nail-biting victory against Mumbai in Dubai. After quality bowling from Navdeep Saini, Virat-army won the match on the final ball of the super over. Despite the second win, Bangalore’s questions haven’t solved yet. ABD is taking the batting charge along with Padikkal and Finch. The trio is providing a good balance to the top-order after a weak batting show from Kohli. Bangalore require a good knock from their skipper. The death-bowling is a big concern as their pacers have conceded runs in last 4-5 overs with the economy of 16-17 which is a worrying sign. It was Sunder who overshadowed the failure with the finest spell in the first hour. Kohli is likely to go ahead with the same XI but he might recall Morris to solve the death-overs problem. It means, either Zampa or Udana will be dropped.
Pitch Report
Sheikh Zayed Stadium offers a good amount of runs and the surface is providing good help to spinners. The track is getting slower in the second half. Batting first would be an ideal call as the chasing is tricky against the spin.
Possible XI
Bangalore
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana/Adam Zampa, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan
Steven Smith (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa/Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag/Mahipal Lomror, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat
Key Players
Rajasthan
Sanju Samson
This season – M: 3, Runs: 167, Avg: 55.67, SR: 201.20
Steven Smith
This season – M: 3, Runs: 122, Avg: 40.67, SR: 150.62
Bangalore
AB de Villiers
This season – M: 3, Runs: 134, Avg: 67, SR: 186.11
Yuzvendra Chahal
This season – M: 3, Wickets: 05, Avg: 18.20
