Kevin Pieterson’s blazing 62 runs from 29 balls helped Bangalore defeat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets to move towards the second position in the points table.
After a disastrous first game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals are looking forward to make amends at their home ground when the two teams clash in a virtual semi-final on Wednesday.
Having been crushed by the Royal Challengers in the previous encounter, the home side will play for both pride and to stay in the tournament, because a loss for any of the two teams would mean only an academic chance for them to remain in contention for the last four.
Rajasthan have come a long way from where they had begun in the tournament. Having lost their first three games, the Royals sprung back and won six out of their next nine games. A win in this one and they would almost be assured of a berth in the final four. For them the best thing to happen is that they will be playing on their home ground, a place where their record is near perfect, having lost just one out of all the games they have played at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
The home side’s batting also looks in order with both openers Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha looking in more than decent touch. Shane Watson’s comeback has also propelled the team and the right-hander has looked in brilliant nick since hitting Indian shores. Yusuf Pathan is always dangerous and with Adam Voges adding depth in the middle order, Anil Kumble’s bowlers will have to work that extra yard to unruffle a few feathers in this batting order.
Rajasthan also have started to bowl much better lately, with skipper Shane Warne himself leading the way. He has been bowling tremendously well and looks to have found his golden years yet again. Add to it the likes of Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan, Rajasthan look good enough to trouble any batting order. The only two things that the home team needs to guard against is fielding and running between the wickets. Their fielding let them down big time in the last game against Mumbai and three run-outs made sure they lost their first game on their home ground.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a very topsy-turvy tournament thus far. Having won four of their first six games, the team has only managed to win two more out of their last six. Their batting line-up looks the most balanced in their entire tournament with a good mix of sheet anchors and aggressors and their bowling attack also has a good mix of seam and spin in it.
Jacques Kallis has been a huge thorn in the flesh of all opposition attacks and if he continues his good run on Wednesday, the home team will have a difficult time containing him. Alongside Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Robin Uthappa have been in tremendous form as well and Warne and his bowlers will have their task cut out.
In the context of the tournament this could be one match which could solve a lot of number crunching issues. For example a loss here for Rajasthan would mean that they would almost be out considering their poor net run-rate. Bangalore, though, would still remain in the hunt even if they lose, but with little academic chance.