IPL 2012 Live: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab Preview

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab are slotted to take on each other in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday, with both teams desperately looking for the crucial points. By winning the match, the winner can earn a spot in the top four on the points table at a crucial time in the season.

With eight points from nine matches so far, Kings XI Punjab seem to have recovered admirably from a struggling start to the season. They are however still in eighth place on the table owing to the heavy defeats suffered on the way. In their last match, the story was different as they edged Chennai Super Kings out by seven runs in a close encounter.

The team showed plenty of grit and fight and that is exactly what David Hussey, the stand-in captain, will be looking from his players on Wednesday. Mandeep Singh and Shaun Marsh have looked good with the bat while Azhar Mahmood starred with the ball to pick up three crucial wickets. With Piyush Chawla also performing well, the team is starting to have players getting into their roles and doing them well.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have nine points from as many matches so far that sees them in fifth position on the points table. However, they succumbed to an embarrassing 47-run defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders.

For the match on Wednesday, plenty will depend on Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers performance with the bat. Both scored half centuries when these two teams met first while Gayle has been the leading run scorer of the season as well. Daniel Vettori will, however, look for improved performances from his bowlers who conceded too many runs yet again.

Zaheer Khan is expected to spearhead the bowling effort in front of his home crowd. The match will be played in Bangalore starting at 8.00 pm.