KXIP vs RCB: Preview, head-to-head and Fantasy XI
What's the story
Kings XI Punjab have a perfect chance to move one step closer to playoffs when they host struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in their final home game of the season. Punjab were table toppers once but they have seen their form diminish in the last few games. They will hope to get their season back on track. For RCB, the motto is battle for survival.
Head-to-head
It would be a tightly fought contest
The two sides have locked horns with each other on 21 occasions with the Kings XI boasting the bragging rights with 12 wins as compared to Bangalore's 9 victories against them. They have gone head to head just once at Indore with RCB losing to Kings XI by 8 wickets last year. Earlier this season, RCB beat KXIP by 4 wickets.
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How to pick the winning Dream XI?
KL Rahul (wicket-keeper and captain), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Andrew Tye and Ankit Rajpoot.
Data
Battle of the two skippers
Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli have gone head to head on 15 occasions with Kohli always having the last laugh. Kohli has managed to score 132 runs off 100 balls by Ashwin and the right-handed batsman has never been dismissed by the off-spinner.
Finally a weakness
Spin has been Kohli's 'kryptonite' this season
Virat Kohli has been dismissed 6 times by spinners this season. Kohli averages 30.83 against spin at a strike rate of 120.13 in IPL 2018. On the other hand, he has lost his wicket to pacers just thrice. If you look at Kohli's record, in 72 innings in last 5 seasons, he was dismissed 6 times against spinners and with an average of 170.33.
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Kings XI Punjab: Probable Playing XI
KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Chris Gayle, Karun Nair, Aaron Finch, David Miller, Manoj Tiwary, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), Mohit Sharma, Andrew Tye and Ankit Rajpoot.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore: Probable Playing XI
Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Moeen Ali, Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Favourite opposition
Umesh Yadav is at his best against KXIP
Umesh Yadav boasts a fantastic record against KXIP. The speedster has 23 wickets against them in 15 matches. Umesh has taken 3 or more wickets 6 times against the Kings. KL Rahul has been on fire this season but has been dismissed 7 times by spinners. The right-handed batsman averages 27.85 against spin but boasts a mammoth strike rate of 161.18 against them.