It's that time of the year!! Yes, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni will hug each other having met after a long time but will be up against each other on the 22 yards soon. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings will be locking horns on Monday in the 24th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Both teams are in a similar position at the moment with two wins in four matches and are at the seventh and sixth place in the points table respectively. RCB are coming into this game after a commanding win over Delhi Captials while CSK lost to Rajasthan Royals in the last over thriller at the Chepauk in their previous outing.
Nevertheless, the RCB vs CSK encounter hogs the limelight every time with the superstars of the game taking the field. RCB and CSK won a game each last season while MS Dhoni and his men are leading in the overall head to head record winning 19 matches as opposed to RCB winning 10. Moreover, CSK have won four out of last five matches against Faf du Plessis' led side. Expect yet another thrilling game in the IPl folklore.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Match 24
Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
Probable Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (C), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj, Vyshak Vijaykumar
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (WK), Dwaine Pretorius/Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande
Pitch and Weather Report
For a change, a team batting first won the game last time around at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB defended a total against Delhi Capitals easily. But that was an afternoon game while the match will be played under the lights on Monday. Conditions will be typical yet again and teams should back themselves to chase down any kind of score.
It is expected to be a pleasant evening in Bengaluru today with things cooling down after 7 PM. There is no chance of rain at all even as temperature will hover in the late 20s during the match.
Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali takes pride in putting his best foot forward every time he takes on the field. But he wasn't at his best against RR dropping catches, missing run-out chances and getting out for a low score. He will definitely look to make amends in this game and take the attack to the RCB bowlers on a batting friendly surface.
Best Bowler of the Match: Maheesh Theekshana
Maheesh Theekshana picked up seven wickets in two matches he played against RCB last year. He returned with the figures of 4/33 and 3/27 playing an important role especially in the middle overs. This makes him a key player for CSK in this encounter.
Who will win the Match: Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
