They are two wounded sides in the Indian Premier League as both suffered rather embarrassing defeats on Tuesday. When they clash against each other on Thursday, both will be hoping to restore their heavyweight reputation and also get their campaign back on track.
It will be [[Chennai Super Kings] hosting Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first of two matches on Thursday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore slumped to a 42-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders, giving the latter their first win of the season. Bangalore have one win from two matches.
The batsmen badly misfired on Tuesday as a target of 165 ended up being too steep. Chris Gayle, the most anticipated batsmen, fell cheaply and also does not boast of a proud record against Chennai. The bowlers did a reasonable job with Muttiah Muralitharan, Zaheer Khan and captain Daniel Vettori looking good.
However, Harshal Patel’s expensive figures ruined it for them. Muralitharan will be hoping to do well against his former franchise and can be a major threat while Virat Kohli can be expected to blaze with the bat.
For the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, a second defeat in three matches is not good signs. Delhi Daredevils inflicted a similar result on them as Mumbai Indians did in the opening match.
Murali Vijay’s first-ball run out, gone without facing a ball, summarized the miserable day Super Kings had. Worryingly for them, six batsmen got into double figures yet Dwayne Bravo’s 22 was the highest score in a paltry total of 110.
The bowlers could do nothing either as they conceded the runs in under 14 overs. Captain MS Dhoni will be hoping that his batsmen come good on Thursday, though on paper the likes of Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel and Bravo are as threatening as anyone else.
The match will be played in Chennai, starting at 4.00pm local time.