LSG, RCB eye top spot

Mumbai, April 18 : Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be eyeing the top spot in the points table, when they lock horns in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match here at DY Patil Stadium on Monday. Lucknow and Bangalore have four wins each from six games in their kitty and are placed second and third in the points table respectively. Both the teams are coming on the back of win. Lucknow defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in their last outing. Bangalore registered 16-run win over Delhi Capitals. LSH have strong top batting order with the presence of skipper KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock. In the previous game Rahul scored and unbeaten 103. Manish Pandey too gained a momentum in the last game and will look to add more runs on the board to ease the pressure on middle order batters. Bowling wise Avesh Khan, Jason Holder, and Ravi Bishnoi could be backed to p sh RCB batters. Bishnoi has been in fine form but more importantly has been economical in his spells. Andrew Tye can also do wonders against Bangalore. Bangalore have a shaky top order and are highly dependent on Dinesh Karthik to complete the task. Glenn Maxwell, and Shahbaz Ahmed have showcased a fine form this season. Virat Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis are yet create magic with the bat. In the bowling department, Josh Hazlewood and Mohammed Siraj will be the vital cogs and Harshal Patel will strengthen the bowling t. Squads (from) Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Akash Deep, Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Jason Behrendorff, Wanindu Hasaranga, Aneeshwar Gautam, Josh Hazlewood, Dinesh Karthik, Siddarth Kaul, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Chama Milind, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai, Sherfane Rutherford, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karn Sharma, David Willey. Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Manan Vohra, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Quinton De Kock, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder. BAV RNJ