The impressive Royal Challengers Bangalore will meet the struggling Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday Evening. RCB had a tight 1 run win against Delhi Capitals in their last match where as Kings are coming off a defeat by Kolkata Knight Riders.
Like every year, RCB again have a very strong batting line up but what is making the key difference in their performance compared to earlier seasons is their solid bowling attack. Kyle Jamieson is playing a key role in this line up. The tall, Kiwi all-rounder is playing his first ever IPL and he looked very settled in conditions which are completely different from the kind of pitches and conditions he gets in his home country. He is performing like an experienced pro and taking care of bowling both in the Powerplay and at the death. He is utilizing his height to his benefit and creating lots of trouble of the opposition batters with his pace and bounce. Against Punjab Kings, Jamieson’s overs against batters like KL Rahul, Mayanka Agarwal, Chris Gayle and Nicolas Pooran would be key.
Although results are not going in their way, the Punjab Kings line-up is not short of big names. What they are lacking is their applicability and their ability to play long innings after getting the start. One player who is playing his role perfectly is young Shahrukh Khan. The explosive batter from Tamil Nadu is playing as the finisher and providing quick runs at the death in most of the matches. Currently he has the second highest average for the Kings and his strike rate is also second in his team among the batters with 100 plus runs. They would hope that Shahrukh continues his form and keep adding key runs at the death. If he can replicate what Ravindra Jadeja did against RCB bowlers that would be a great benefit for the Kings.
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