The Royal Challengers Bangalore, strong contenders for the play-offs after successfully maintaining their place in the top four position in the points table thus far in IPL-6, face a possible banana skin clash against the ousted Delhi Daredevils at the Kotla here on Friday. With the race for a last-four finish tightening with every win or loss now, it will be the visitors who will enter the contest with some sort of pressure to take home the crucial points.
Their opponents have looked woefully out of place in this season alongside Pune Warriors, the two, in that order, occupying the bottom-most slots in the table and the visitors will hope that Daredevils' dismal run continues. What tilts the balance towards RCB is the disinterest the Daredevils have shown, in particular after their chances of progressing to the playoffs evaporated. Their batting has been ordinary and fielding dismal which has proved the undoing despite the bowlers doing their bit.
Despite employing as many as six changes in their last game against the Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, the Daredevils were outplayed in all departments. The RCB, however, will be on guard against any complacency at this stage, not to ignore the pink of form their batsmen, especially Chris Gayle has shown so far.
The Jamaican alongside skipper Virat Kohli, who has lost some steam with the bat a bit of late, form the crux of their batting and till the moment one of them is around, RCB will give themselves a chance in any contest.
The return of Cheteshwar Pujara after injury is a welcome addition and the Saurashtra batsman showed fine touch in constructing a 48-ball 51 in their last game against Kings XI Punjab which they lost to the brilliance of David Miller. South African AB de Villiers is a dangerous player in this format with his ability to play cameos late in the innings. If Gayle and Kohli are leading the batting charts, pacer R. Vinay Kumar has been a revelation this season, even earning a call-up to the Indian team for the Champions Trophy riding on his impressive performances in the league.