Stragglers run into table-toppers

Friday, April 24, 2015
Start time 2000 local (14:30 GMT)

Rattled, struggling to find the right balance, and a captain who says he can't say much during the post-match presentation. After a promising start to the season where they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore have gone back to their slow, inconsistent ways, losing three successive games at home. Not even a fifty from Virat Kohli and a fiery spell from a fit-again Mitchell Starc could drag them off the bottom of the table on Wednesday. And now they run into the table-toppers.

Rajasthan Royals' five-match winning streak was broken by Kings XI Punjab in a Super-Over finish, but there is no denying that Royals are one of the more stable teams this season. Three of the top 10 economy rates belong to Royals, Ajinkya Rahane is fast enhancing his T20 credentials with five successive forty-plus scores, including three successive fifties, and the return of Shane Watson has added more firepower to their batting. Deepak Hooda and Steven Smith have pitched in with good contributions, but much of it has been built on a strong platform laid by the top order.

Royal Challengers will bank on Starc to nip out the openers early and Yuzvendra Chahal's stifling spin to tie down the middle order. Chahal can also take the new ball as he showed against Super Kings, dismissing Brendon McCullum cheaply. However, that has not masked the weakness of the attack with the likes of David Wiese and Varun Aaron, who was tipped to lead the bowling early season but later dropped, proving expensive. To compound their woes, Adam Milne has been ruled out of the tournament. With the exception of Nic Maddinson, Royal Challengers have tried out all their overaseas players and even left out Chris Gayle in their previous game, against Chennai Super Kings. They need to quickly identify a settled combination if they are to revive their campaign.

Dinesh Karthik, the second-most expensive buy in the February auction, has lasted only 41 balls, managing 43 runs in four matches. The onus is on him to step up and bind the middle order before it gets too late.

Deepak Hooda, who spent the entire 2014 season on the bench, has already made a mark this season. He has crunched 116 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 218.86, the highest in the tournament so far (for a minimum of 10 balls faced), and stands second in the list of most sixes, in addition to a decent economy rate of 7.58.