It will be a showdown clash for the final playoffs berth between the two giants- Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Chennai Super Kings at the M. Chinnaswamy on Saturday. RCB have stunned the spectators after registering an emphatic comeback in the league with 5 consecutive wins in their last 5 matches as they now stand a genuine chance to qualify in the top 4. However, for the 2016 runner-ups win may not be enough to get them through as they’ll have to dethrone CSK by a huge margin.

The ride may not be as bumpy for CSK who would only need a straight win to get to 16 points and reserve their place in the final four. Both teams will also miss their English services in this virtual knockout stage with Moeen Ali (CSK) and Will Jacks (RCB) leaving their respective sides for international commitments.

RCB likely XI (if batting first)

Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudesai, Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Lockie Ferguson

RCB likely XI (if bowling first)

Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Karn Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh

Impact Players: Yash Dayal, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudesai, Vijaykumar Vyashak

CSK likely XI (if batting first)

Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh

CSK likely XI (if bowling first)

Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana

Impact players: Maheesh Theekshana, Samir Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane

Head-to-head

Both teams have met each other on 32 occasions where CSK have dominantly led the head-to-head with 21 wins in their favour. The defending champions also won their previous encounter which took place earlier this season.

Pitch Report

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium is known to provide early help to the bowlers and restrict the team to a chasable total. And, quite evidently, 50 out of 94 matches have been won by teams batting second. The pitch makes it difficult for the batsmen to middle the ball with its slow nature and may also provide help to the spinners.

Fantasy XI

Virat Kohli (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Faf Du Plessis, Cameron Green, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Ms Dhoni (wk), Karn Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh

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