PJB vs BLR MPL Team: It’s the Karnataka Derby in IPL today with Royal Challengers Bangalore takes on Kings XI Punjab who had four Karnataka players in their playing eleven last game to go along with the Karnataka leg-spinner A Kumble as their coach. Both units played their first league match at Dubai and should be familiar with the conditions on offer. Both teams strength lies with their batting and the presence of a weak fast bowling attack in both the teams should help them.

Royal Challengers Bangalore started their campaign with a win against SRH after Chahal pulled back the match with a defining 16th over. D Padikkal impressed on his debut with a well made fifty and AB De Villiers did his thing with 51 off 30 balls. The form of their fast bowlers apart from Saini is a concern, but they will look to take the winning momentum into this contest.

On the other hand, KXIP lost the first match of their season courtesy of a Super-Over which should’ve never gone that far considering they needed 1 off 3 at one stage. Their death bowling concerns were evident after they conceded 57 off the last 3 overs after reducing DC to a mere 87/5. Mayank was brilliant with the bat but failed to kill off the chase while there weren’t any real contributions from their middle-order.

PJB vs BLR MPL Prediction

Fixture: Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 3, IPL 2020
Date & Time: Thursday, 24th September 2020 at 7:30 pm (IST)
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Venue Stats: The last two matches in Dubai produced scores in the 150s with batsmen scoring 5 fifties so far. M Agarwal has the top-score with 89 off 60 balls
Pitch Report: Expect some grass to be left as they did in the previous matches here. The square boundaries in Dubai are 70m long on both side and one side of the straight boundary measures at 82m. Spinners do get good purchase off this wicket with dew expected to make its presence with humidity levels at 67%.

PJB vs RCB MPL Team, Playing XIs, Mega Contest

Team news: RCB surprised everyone by going in with Phillipe in their opening encounter against SRH. Umesh Yadav leaked runs like he does most times and Steyn wasn’t effective with the new ball. But with still no news about the recovery of Morris, they would mostly field the same eleven from their previous match.

KXIP should have never lost from the position they were in with both bat and ball. Jordan going for 30 runs in the final over might make the team management think of bringing in either Mujeeb or Viljoen but they’re most likely to persist with Jordan considering the value he brings at the death. Their middle-order disappointed with low scores and with C Gayle waiting, the clock’s ticking for Pooran.

Expected changes: RCB will go with the same squad unless Morris is fit.

C Gayle and H Viljoen/Mujeeb could be brought in but they would persist with the same combination as it is just the second match.

Underperformers/risky picks: C Jordan courtesy of his expensive spell is a doubtful starter for this match. J Phillipe is the most certain one to lose his spot if at all Morris returns and Umesh who has been underperforming for RCB in recent times could also be replaced. The predicted XIs for the PJB vs BLR MPL fantasy cricket tips are as follows:

KXIP Playing XI (predicted):

KL Rahul (C & WK)
M Agarwal
K Nair
N Pooran
G Maxwell
Sarfaraz Khan
K Gowtham
C Jordan
S Cottrell
M Shami
R Bishnoi

RCB Playing XI (predicted): 

A Finch
D Padikkal
V Kohli (C)
AB De Villiers
S Dubey
J Phillipe (WK)
W Sundar
D Steyn
Umesh Yadav
N Saini
Y Chahal

KXIP vs RCB MPL MatchUps

Domination of AB De Villiers

AB de Villiers displayed some terrific form against SRH in the opening game. Apart from R Bishnoi, no other bowler in the KXIP bowling line-up can trouble him and even Bishnoi will be under pressure to bowl to the 360-degree batsman. Also, his overall batting record against KXIP makes for good reading.

The Pace Trouble

KXIP batting order lacks the presence of someone who specializes in hitting raw pace with most of their batsmen apart from Rahul struggling against high-end pace. With the presence of N Saini who is capable of clicking 150ks in the RCB camp, their task is cut-out to negotiate his raw pace. Pooran’s vulnerability against pace was seen in the Super-Over against DC were his stumps were castled by a full delivery from Rabada.

KXIP vs RCB IPL 2020 Fantasy Cricket Tips

Captain Choices-

AB De Villiers – His overall records against KXIP and his prowess against pace were all discussed in the Matchups section. The only issue for him would be to see off R Bishnoi and wreak havoc against all others which makes him a prime pick for KXIP vs RCB today match prediction.

KL Rahul – KL Rahul’s head-to-head record against Yadav and Steyn is good while he dominates the likes of Chahal and Sundar. So a big score is due for the Punjab captain.

Vice-Captain choices

V Kohli – The highest run-scorer in IPL history, V Kohli is RCB’s best bet to negate any movement in the early overs by Cottrell and Shami and his accumulating skills will come handy in the surface at Dubai

N Saini – The troubles of the KXIP batting unit against pace were all discussed in the Matchups section and Saini can easily exploit them with the long square boundaries in Dubai.

X-factors

M Shami – He displayed a masterclass on seam-bowling at Dubai in the last match. If there is any grass left on the surface, there’s no one better than Shami to exploit those.

Y Chahal – He has been V Kohli’s go-to-bowler for a long time now and he mixed spin with flight to bamboozle the SRH batsman last game. His H2H record against Maxwell stands with 6 wickets.

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