Bengaluru, April 4 (IANS) Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will aim to build on a strong start to their title defence when they face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the second game of Sunday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) double-header at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

RCB began their campaign on a positive note with a convincing home win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. Opting to field first, they kept the visitors in check at 201, with Jacob Duffy and Romario Shepherd playing key roles by picking up three wickets apiece.

The chase was handled with authority, as Devdutt Padikkal’s explosive 61 off just 26 deliveries, along with an unbeaten 69 from Virat Kohli, guided Bengaluru to a six-wicket victory with plenty of overs remaining.

In contrast, Chennai Super Kings are still searching for their first win of the season after back-to-back setbacks. They were initially outplayed by the Rajasthan Royals and then suffered another defeat at home against the Punjab Kings.

Despite posting a formidable 209, CSK were unable to defend the total, as Punjab chased it down comfortably with contributions from Shreyas Iyer and Priyansh Arya, sealing the result with time to spare.

With Bengaluru carrying early momentum and Chennai under pressure to respond, the encounter sets up as a crucial early-season test for both sides.

When: Sunday, April 5, 7:30 PM IST

Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Where to watch: The RCB vs CSK match will be broadcast by Star Sports Network, with JioHotstar live-streaming the game.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Philip Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Nuwan Thushara, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal

Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ayush Mhatre, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Urvil Patel, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Khan, MS Dhoni, Dewald Brevis, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Chahar, Spencer Johnson, Mukesh Choudhary, Aman Khan, Gurjapneet Singh, Zakary Foulkes, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer

–IANS

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