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Rains arrive in Bengaluru as laggards eye win to stay in contention

May 4, 2024
WebDesk
PC – BCCI. RCB will depend on the experienced pair for a rousing start

‘Rains in Bengaluru’ – Somehow that line didn’t seem synonymous with the city for the last several months. So much so that there was a drought-like situation in Bengaluru.  Finally, a couple of days ago, there was a short spell of rain showers. And that was followed by another, the very next day, which lasted for over an hour.  Although Bengaluru was once more waterlogged, it gave city-dwellers some respite from the heat.

So, will the Royal Challengers Bengaluru-Gujarat Titans match get affected by rain? For starters, the Chinnaswamy has a state-of-the-art SubAir drainage system, which in turn   suctions water/moisture at a rate of 10,000 litres per minute. 

Next, if you zoom your eyes on the weather forecast, it is set to clear up for the next two-three days, before the rains are expected to lash the city. Although, over a period of time, one has witnessed very unpredictable weather in Bengaluru and even the best of forecasts could go wrong. 

Faf du Plessis and his band of men too would be hoping that the rain Gods are kind to them as, after a string of losses, they have finally picked up a bit of momentum, winning their last couple of games. In their previous match, against the same opponent, albeit away from home, they recorded a thumping nine-wicket win. 

Will Jacks, who was scratchy at the start of his innings, suddenly found his mojo and finished with an astounding 100 off only 41 deliveries. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of form with an unbeaten 44-ball 70. 

More importantly, the hosts would be buoyed by how Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh and Glenn Maxwell combined to keep GT to a manageable total in Ahmedabad. Siraj, in particular, seems to have found some rhythm in his previous two outings.

If RCB are languishing at the bottom of the table, then GT are only two spots above in eighth position. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan have scored in excess of 300 runs but neither of them are power-hitters. In that backdrop, Shahrukh Khan cracking a breezy half-century in his last game would have brought some cheer to the camp. The experienced David Miller too seems to have found his touch by notching up a few useful scores.

GT have issues in the bowling department too. After a promising start to the tournament, Mohit Sharma has come under increasing pressure, and his economy rate now stands at 10.96. He finished with sorry figures of 0 for 73 versus Delhi Capitals, and couldn’t even complete his quota of overs against RCB. Rashid Khan, their main strike bowler, has taken less than a wicket per match.

Although GT are slightly ahead of RCB in the points table, the latter perhaps would fancy their chances of building on their couple of victories. For that to happen, their bowlers have to find a way to restrict the opponent from aggregating a tall score in the cauldron of the Chinnaswamy.