What Two teams that occupy the last two places in the standings clash in Match 39 of VIVO IPL 2016. Kings XI Punjab, who occupy the floor of the table, and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are one place above from the floor of the table, come up against each other for the first time this season. Kings XI Punjab’s aspirations of qualifying for the Playoffs are alive, but they’re only clinging on to a thin thread. The team were faced with the same scenario in their previous match too and on that occasion they outclassed the Delhi Daredevils by 9 runs. Murali Vijay and co. will surely be upbeat post that win and must be looking forward to stitching together a series of wins. Royal Challengers Bangalore are seventh in the table and have three wins too, but they’ve played the fewest matches among all other teams. The next few days could make or break RCB’s campaign; they play five matches over the next ten days, and the time is now for them to start piling on the wins and start making a move up the ladder. The team must be feeling upbeat after their win over Rising Pune Supergiants on Saturday; on any surface it isn’t easy to chase down targets in excess of 190, but RCB were in control of the chase and got past the line quite convincingly – riding on the back of Virat Kohli’s magnificent century. When

9 May 2016, 2000 Hrs IST Where IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Weather

Temperature: Max 35°c, Min 30°c Humidity: Max 36% Wind: 6kmph The Protagonists There’s plenty of talent in KXIP’s batting line-up; Murali Vijay, Glenn Maxwell and David Miller are seasoned international cricketers and have dented several bowling attacks in the past. However, so far this season, one has only seen glimpses of what the trio is capable of; between them they’ve only managed four half-centuries this season – with a highest score of 68. The time has come for them to kick on and make big scores. The addition of Hashim Amla only gives the batting line-up more steel. KXIP’s bowlers can claim the bragging rights for the team’s three wins. Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma have been excellent, and in the previous game, they were outstanding particularly at the death. Between them, Mohit and Sandeep have accounted for nearly half the wickets taken by the team – and that illustrates the impact they’ve had. Virat Kohli is riding a wave at the moment and RCB will be hopeful their captain, who has already amassed over 500 runs, can keep the form for the rest of the tournament. While all the focus has been on their established players, KL Rahul has silently gone about his job – scoring three fifties and a 38 in the previous match. AB de Villiers has had a couple of poor outings and a big score must be round the corner. Shane Watson is an extremely important cog in the wheel – with both bat and ball. With the ball, the team is expected to strengthen their quick bowling department at the expense of a spinner, and therefore the focus will shift to how incisive the likes of Chris Jordan and Varun Aaron can be with the ball. Head to Head Kings XI Punjab have a 10-6 win-loss record from their earlier matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the last six matches between the two teams – starting the 2013 season, KXIP have emerged victorious on 5 occasions. Trivia Royal Challengers Bangalore have lost the fewest wickets of all teams in VIVO IPL 2016 – 37. Kings XI Punjab meanwhile have lost 64 wickets in the 9 matches they’ve played so far. Kings XI Punjab have the poorest scoring rate of all teams – 7.63. They’ve also got the lowest boundary percentage of all the eight teams – 48.31%. Royal Challengers Bangalore at the other extreme on both fronts; they have the best overall scoring rate of all teams – 9.48, and have the highest boundary% of all teams – 58.73%. Virat Kohli, after his unbeaten 108 against Rising Pune Supergiants, became the first captain to score two centuries in the IPL. Only three other players have scored centuries when they’ve been captain of IPL teams: Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist and Virender Sehwag. Virat Kohli is the only player to have featured in all 16 previous contests between KXIP and RCB. What Next Both teams’ next fixtures are against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. While KXIP clash with MI on May 13 at Visakhapatnam, RCB head back to Bengaluru for their match against MI, scheduled to be played on May 11.