Highveld Lions taking Royal Challengers Bangalore in Champions league T20

Highevld Lions put on a clinical performance in their last game against Guyana. Captain Alviro Petersen once again led from the front, but with Richard Cameron also coming good with the bat, the Lions are spoilt for batting options should McKenzie be fit for this game.  The bowling too, with Ethan O’Reilly and Aaron Phangiso bowling incisive spells, looks at its potent best.

Royal Challengers Bangalore should have won the game against Mumbai Indians the other night. They were the better team for most part of that match but lost the plot when it mattered most.  The advantage they have when they play the local Lions is that in Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn they have two South African stars who would be familiar with the opposition. RCB would do well to use their experience on the night to come out trumps.

What the two teams need to do to qualify

Both sides have currently played three games apiece with RCB (1 win) enjoying the higher net run-rate at +0.852. The Lions have won two matches and are better placed in the points tally (4 points to RCB’s 2) but have a poorer net run-rate (+0.716) compared to the Bangalore club.

In that context, if the Lions beat Royal Challengers Bangalore or there is a game with no result or a tie, the Lions will qualify along with the Redbacks from Group B. However, if Royal Challengers Bangalore beat the Lions, they will finish second in the group as it is not possible for them to beat the Lions and fall behind the Lions on the net run-rate. So whoever wins the Lions v Royal Challengers Bangalore match will advance to the semis along with Redbacks.

Key players

Richard Cameron blazed his way to a knock of 78 runs in just 42 balls in the game against Guyana. The dashing right-hand batsman heaped misery on the Guyana bowlers hitting them for five 4s and six 6s. Should he repeat his performance in the game against RCB, the result of the match will most certainly go in the Lions’ favour.

Praveen Kumar bowled exceptionally well against Mumbai Indians, his four overs costing the team only 26 runs. He also had Sachin Tendulkar caught behind by Robin Uthappa off a superb piece of seam bowling. Kumar’s economy-rate for the tournament has been a mere 6.33 runs per over and with bowling under lights always favouring bowlers in South Africa, Kumar could be a dangerous proposition for the Lions’ batting line-up on the night.