RCB hope to continue momentum at home as second chapter of Southern Derby awaits
After a brief hiatus, RCB will be back to the yard for the second round of the Southern Derby as they lock horns against CSK in Namma Chinnaswamy. The last time these two teams met, RCB clinched the bragging rights of the fixture hands down. They will be hopeful of pulling off something similar as Chennai arrive in Bengaluru to salvage some pride for themselves, with the MS Dhoni-led team out of the race for the playoffs.
RCB will be high on momentum as they will be coming on the back of three consecutive wins. In their last three games, they laid waste to Punjab Kings away from home, conquered Rajasthan Royals at the Chinnaswamy and vanquished Delhi Capitals to avenge their earlier defeat in the season. They will be hopeful of seizing a fourth win on the trot which can provide them with a massive boost in their quest for a play-off spot.
CSK, on the contrary, have lost three of their last games which resulted in their elimination from the tournament. They will be desperate to get back to winning ways and a chance to pull it off against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru gives them an added incentive of conquering the Southern Derby. With all of that being said, one can expect this to be a full-blown Saturday blockbuster considering the kind of firepower that these two teams come in with.
Venue Watch
This year’s Bengaluru surface hasn’t exhibited the traits of a free-scoring one. The pitch has been relatively slower and it has shown signs of spongy bounce thereby making batting a far difficult task in the first half. With the dew coming in the second, life has been easier for the batters. One can expect this to be a decent scoring contest instead of those high-flyers which can come up with an aggregate score of 400 plus.
Personal battles to watch out for:
Virat Kohli vs Noor Ahmad:
Virat Kohli will definitely be eyeing for the Orange Cap once again and 62 runs is what can get him to the pedestal. He has been in menacing touch and his finesse in the last fixture propelled RCB across the finish line, despite the early jitters. He can very tactfully manage the situations, thereby making him one of the most menacing options. Noor Ahmad started the campaign on a high and then has somehow drifted in and out of form for a while. However, a prime Noor can be quite disruptive and his variations make him a fine competitor for Virat Kohli.
Rajat Patidar vs Ravindra Jadeja
Rajat Patidar will be hopeful of getting back among the runs. He is one of the finest players of spin and when the seasoned Jadeja comes into attack, the two will have an intriguing contest to look forward to. Jadeja has also dished out a handful of decent performances but they haven’t been enough so far. Given Rajat's proficiency against spin, expect the RCB captain to have his nose ahead in the contest.
Josh Hazlewood vs Dewald Brevis
Josh Hazlewood has been in excellent form throughout the tournament and his newfound momentum in the last couple of matches will make him a fine choice for RCB to bank on. His middle and death over exploits laced with his lethal accuracy has been a major headache for the batters. Dewald Brevis has displayed his ability to take on the bowlers as one of CSK's key batters in recent times, and his battle against Hazlewood, who is in prime form, could be a major decisive factor in this game.
Match detail:
Match: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Date: 3rd May, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Head-to-head:
Matches played: 34
CSK: 21
RCB: 12
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Swastik Chikara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Philip Salt, Manoj Bhandage, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh.
Chennai Super Kings:
Ruturaj Gaikwad*, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.
