 The ninth game of the tournament will be the first knock-out game whose winner
will go through the next stage, whereas the losing side will crash out of the
tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore will face the Otago Volts
in the game, and the match will be played in Bangalore.
As was seen in the first game of the tournament, the pitch was a beauty. The
team batting first got to 180 and the team chasing it won the game in the last
over. The same will be the story of the track as the batsmen will look to dominate
proceedings. And because, this is a virtual pre-quarter-final knock-out with
the losing team this will be something to look out for.
Click for Live Score Card of Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Otago VoltsThe Royal Challengers will know that they cannot rely on only one or two to win the game for them. They will also realise that they are a little bowling-light
and going in with the strategy of only five bowlers did not do too well for
the side. This could bring about a change in the line-up but the problem is
that they will have to drop one of the batsmen to get in another bowler.
For the batsmen though, it would be a much easier task than their counterparts
in Delhi who are struggling to lay bat to ball. Robin Uthappa will want
to continue batting in the same vein, as would Ross Taylor, but Virat Kohli needs to overcome his lack of runs and get going with his bat.
Otago had decided to field first and had to bear the brunt of a superb century
by Andrew Puttick. They did not bowl too badly, it was just one of those
days when Puttick converted every ball to a bad ball. Brendon McCullum
will the definite one man army, but it can be seen that MCullum has not been
going through consistent good patch. He could be one of the problems for his
own side, as would be the question whether they should bat or bowl first
The bowling will lie in the hands of Ian Butler, but the quick bowlers
of his like will not enjoy bowling on this track. The spinners will need to
come into the fold more often in the game.
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