Can Gayle lift RCB against his favourite opposition?
Match facts
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab
Bengaluru, May 5, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)
Head-to-head
Overall: Kings XI Punjab have beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore 11 times in 19 games in the IPL. The results have been split equally in their eight meetings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Season: Despite a sensational 46-ball 89 from AB de Villiers, Kings XI thrashed Royal Challengers when the teams met in Indore earlier in the season.
In the news
Travis Head's poor form, and Royal Challengers' preference to open with Chris Gayle at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, could mean a reshuffling of the playing XI.
For Kings XI, Eoin Morgan will not be available for the rest of the season, having joined England for national duty.
Qualification scenario
With just two wins from 11 games, Royal Challengers have been eliminated from playoffs contention.
Four wins from Kings XI's remaining five games could be enough for a spot in the playoffs. Three wins could also be enough if other results go their way: if Rising Pune Supergiant don't win more than one more game or if Delhi Daredevils don't win more than four of their remaining games.
Likely XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Kedar Jadhav (wk), 5 Shane Watson, 6 Mandeep Singh, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Pawan Negi, 9 Adam Milne/Samuel Badree, 10 S Aravind, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Kings XI Punjab: 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Manan Vohra, 5 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Sandeep Sharma, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 T Natarajan
Strategy punt
Kings XI could use Axar Patel to slow down AB de Villiers, whose strike rate against left-arm spin is comparatively low as opposed to other types of bowling. De Villiers' strike rate against left-arm spin is 133.66, compared to 158 against pace. De Villiers also has a strike rate of 172.28 against other types of spin in the IPL since 2016.
Royal Challengers could counter that move by playing Chris Gayle, who has hammered Axar for 56 runs off just 22 balls in the IPL at a strike rate of 254.
Stats that matter
- There is a good reason, other than the small dimensions of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, to include Chris Gayle. He has scored 797 runs against Kings XI in the IPL, the most by a batsman against an opposition, with an average of 56.92 and a strike rate of 175.55.
At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Gayle has scores of 107, 71, 77, 4, 117 and 73 against Kings XI with an average of 74.83 and a strike rate of 187.08.
- Sandeep Sharma has been used frequently in the Powerplay. He has taken six wickets in the Powerplay this season, the joint second-most by any bowler. His economy rate in the Poweplay is 6.47, the second best after Bhuvneshwar Kumar, for bowlers who have bowled a minimum of ten overs.
- De Villiers and Virat Kohli have strong records against Sandeep. De Villiers has hit Sandeep for 59 runs off just 25 balls, while Kohli has taken 48 runs off 27 balls.
- However, Sandeep hasn't dismissed anyone as often as he has dismissed Kohli in the IPL - four times.
- Glenn Maxwell has dominated Pawan Negi, but hasn't quite been able to get on top of Yuzvendra Chahal: both spinners take the ball away from Maxwell. He has struck 31 runs off just 13 balls against Negi, and 19 runs off 16 balls against Chahal.