New Delhi: Just a week more to go in league stage of the Indian Premier League 2017 season, and the race for a spot in top 4 is intensifying. Today's encounters will see bottom table Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Kolkata Knight Riders, while 5th placed Kings XI Punjab will face Gujarat Lions, hoping to climb to 4th spot in the points table. (IPL 2017 - Points Table | Schedule)
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
After successive defeats in the previous two encounters, an under-pressure KKR will look to regain their momentum and remain in the hunt for the knockout stage when they clash with laggards RCB.
Kolkata Kight Riders, who suffered losses against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiant in the last two matches, need two wins out of the remaining three matches to seal their berth in the play-off.
The two-time champions are placed second in the table with 14 points out of 11 matches, followed by RPS and Sunrisers at 14 and 13 points.
With nothing at stake as the team is already out of he tournament, RCB skipper Kohli might be inclined to give some of the youngsters a chance.
After the high of last international season, the IPL has been kind of a setback for skipper Kohli with his team letting him down pretty badly. (RCB vs KKR - Full Preview)
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) vs Gujarat Lions (GL)
After securing back-to-back wins, a resurgent Kings XI Punjab will look to go all guns blazing against down and out Gujarat Lions to keep their IPL play-off hopes alive, especially considering 4th placed Sunrisers incurred a defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant.
In the eight-team competition, Punjab are placed at number five spot with five wins and ten points from 10 games, three points behind Hyderabad with 2 games in hand. Meaning, they have a realistic chance of qualifying in the next round if they don't slip up.
Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, are out of contention and they are struggling at the second last position. Having finished an impressive third in their inaugural season last year, it turned out to be a disappointing campaign for the Lions in 2017. (KXIP vs GL - Full Preview)
Here's everything you need to know about IPL Match 46 and 47:-
Possible playing XI (RCB vs KKR):
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Shane Watson, Pawan Negi, S Aravind, Samuel Badree, Aniket Choudhary, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav
Possible playing XI (KXIP vs GL):
Kings XI Punjab: Hashim Amla, Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Glenn Maxwell (captain), Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan.
Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith, Ishan Kishan, Suresh Raina (captain), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Pradeep Sangwan, Basil Thampi, Ankit Soni.
When and where is the match?
RCB vs KKR:
Date & Time: May 7 (Sunday) at 16:00 IST
Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
KXIP vs GL:
Date & Time: May 7 (Sunday) at 20:00 IST
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
How to watch the match on TV and online?
TV Telecast: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD and SET MAX.
Live Streaming: Sony LIV, Hotstar
