Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be back at their den, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for their second game in the 2024 edition of the IPL. RCB will hope that the homecoming is fruitful for them after suffering a loss in their tournament opener against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). RCB will be up against Punjab Kings (PBKS), who have had a number on them in the past and made a winning start to their campaign against the Delhi Capitals.
With a much better and flatter pitch at their home venue, RCB will expect their batting line-up to fare better than what they did in Chennai with a couple of them failing to trouble the scorers. Similarly, the Punjab Kings will worry about their death bowling as despite having the Capiutals seven down, Harshal Patel was taken to the cleaners and he will sort of feel at home, having played for the RCB in the last couple of years at this venue, which already is a death bed for the bowlers.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Pitch Report
Runs, runs and runs - that has been the case at this venue in Bengaluru and more of the same is expected in IPL 2024 as well. The pitches got tired in the Women's Premier League (WPL) but still, the fresh ones produced belters as the likes of Ellyse Perry, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Kiran Navgire among others made merry. That will be the case in the IPL as well, with the curators getting three weeks to prepare the surfaces for the tournament. It is a chasing ground and the records show that the teams batting second have won 47 times and the teams batting first have won 37 games.
On great batting decks, there is a temptation to bat first as well given that there is an option of batting the opposition out of the game, however, with the small boundaries, it gets difficult to defend at this venue. The average batting first score is 166 but that's not a winning total and hence the record is skewed in the favour of the chasing teams. Expect the captain winning the toss to bowl first and RCB will be hoping that the coin falls in their favour after batting first in Chennai and losing rather easily which they wouldn't have liked a bit.
