da poker： ESPNcricinfo previews the CLT20 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Somerset
da spicy bet： The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran02-Oct-2011Match factsRoyal Challengers Bangalore v Somerset, October 3, Bangalore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Can Jos Buttler and Somerset end Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chances?•Getty Images
Big PictureTwo weeks into the Champions League T20, Royal Challengers Bangalore are the only team without a point. Their net run-rate is so poor that even two wins in their remaining games may not be enough for them to progress. To make things worse, rain is forecast for Monday. Two matches have already been abandoned in Bangalore, and another one will end Royal Challengers’ qualification hopes.The problem for Royal Challengers has been the bowling – they lost both matches despite scoring around 170. One man in the spotlight will be Dirk Nannes, the senior fast bowler in the absence of the injured Zaheer Khan. Nannes has been wicketless in both games, going for 71 runs in his seven overs. He will be expected to provide better support to Daniel Vettori.Somerset, on the other hand, are the only unbeaten team in the competition. Even if Monday’s game is rained out, they still retain a good chance of making the semi-finals. They haven’t been in the middle for more than a week, since the victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on September 25. Since then, they have been bolstered by the arrival of Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler.Watch out for …Virat Kohli was the only player the Royal Challengers retained before this year’s IPL auction. He repaid his franchise’s faith by piling up 557 runs in the IPL season, second best in the league behind team-mate Chris Gayle. Kohli has also grown into a senior position in the side, frequently advising the captain and helping out with field placements. Kohli had talked about the increased responsibility on him to deliver in the middle order after the injury to AB de Villiers. Following his duck against Kolkata Knight Riders, he will want to make amends.Jos Buttler missed out on England’s limited-overs trip to India later this month, but he was outstanding for Somerset this season. One of the highlights was a 72-ball 86 in the CB40 final that nearly ended Somerset’s run of second-place finishes on the county circuit. He missed the initial part of the CLT20 because of his international commitments and this will be his first chance to show Indian audiences his talent.Team newsSomerset went with a spin-heavy XI for the washed-out game against South Australia, selecting as many as four slow bowlers. Unless the track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is dramatically different, they will stick to the same side.Royal Challengers’ bowling has been poor so far, but they don’t have too many options to change the line-up. Abhimanyu Mithun was dropped after an expensive opening match, while his replacement Raju Bhatkal finished with 2-0-20-0 in the second game. Johan van der Wath, who has been drafted in to replace the injured AB de Villiers, could slot in lower down the order to bolster both the bowling and batting. Asad Pathan is another option, or they might draft in Arun Karthik to free Dilshan from keeping duties and use him as an offspinner.Stats and triviaRoyal Challengers and New South Wales are the only teams whose batsmen haven’t made a half-century in the tournament.Nannes and Dwayne Bravo are the only two players to have represented three different teams in the first three seasons of the CLT20.Quotes”When I saw that boundary in Bangalore I thought of becoming a batsman.”
“I think we still have a good chance. Our team has a lot of confidence and we hope to beat Somerset.”
