Indian Premier League 2019 Match 20, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Royal Challengers Bangalore will host Delhi Capitals for Match 20 of IPL 2019, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. With 2 wins in 4 matches, Delhi are just outside the top four; Bangalore, on the other hand, have lost all 5 matches – and are in desperate search of their maiden win of the edition.

Bangalore’s weak bowling attack have been a perennial problem. That has not changed, despite Yuzvendra Chahal holding the Purple Cap. The batting, too, came together in only their fifth match, against Kolkata Knight Riders, when Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers finally performed together. To be fair, however, Parthiv Patel has stood up to the challenge and delivered almost every time.

Delhi look more balanced. Their top four have not failed them yet, and the bowling attack has been strong, albeit a bit inconsistent. Three of their bowlers – Chris Morris, Axar Patel, and Rahul Tewatia – can hit the ball hard as well, thereby providing balance to their team.

Head to head

Bangalore hold a 13-6 advantage over Delhi including 2 wins in 2018. Rishabh Pant (85 in 48 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (52 in 31) had taken Delhi to 174/5 at Chinnaswamy, Chahal taking 2/22. De Villiers (90* in 39) won it for RCB with two overs to spare.

The Kotla match was almost an encore, Pant scoring 61 in 34 balls to push Delhi to 181/4. Chahal took 2/28. This time Kohli (70 in 40) took charge before de Villiers (72* in 37) finished things off.

Key players

Pawan Negi (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Negi has played just one match, Bangalore’s most recent one, against Kolkata. He was accurate and found turn, and got Chris Lynn and Robin Uthappa. He finished with 3.1-0-21-2 during a chase of 206. Definitely someone Bangalore will depend on.

Rahul Tewatia (Delhi Capitals): Despite being Delhi’s most economical bowler (6.63), Tewatia has bowled just over 2 overs per match. He has also struck at 125, and his ability to play big shots pushed the management to promote him against Sunrisers.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, Akshdeep Nath, Pawan Negi, Navdeep Saini, Tim Southee, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw,Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Colin Ingram, Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Prediction

History backs Bangalore, but given Bangalore’s run, Delhi are likely to win.