When: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders, April 5, at 8:00 PM IST
Where: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
What to expect: No respite from the heat in Bangalore with temperatures rising up to 35 degrees. No chance of rain. The covered-up centre wicket had a mild covering of green on the eve of the game, but could be an entirely different story on game day. It will, however, typically be a wicket that has a lot of runs in it.
Team news:
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Kohli had suggested making changes in bulk following their loss to Rajasthan Royals. Nathan Coulter-Nile will only be available from April 13. But Tim Southee's availability since the start has not inspired Kohli to give him a go, with them opting for the all-round option of Colin de Grandomme or Moeen Ali instead. That, despite RCB conceding just under 10 in the death. Southee, also functional with the bat, could be a handy inclusion to provide the hosts some zip in the bowling. Yuzvendra Chahal has been their lone shining star in the bowling, and has lacked aid at the other end.
If RCB are hell-bent on having two all-rounders, like they do in Ali and Marcus Stionis, they could bring in Southee for Shimron Hetmyer, who has failed to kick on so far. They could also do with giving Washington Sundar a go. He proved his prowess for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the powerplay with some handy scores along the way.
Probable XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), Washington Sundar/Moeen Ali, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer/Tim Southee, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunil Narine is "good to go" in Piyush Chawla's words. He will slot right back in if it's the case in place of Nikhil Naik. KKR are unlikely to make further changes.
Probable XI: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk, c), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna
