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The men and women at the Royal Challengers Bangalore can be forgiven for casting a longing glance at their next opposition. fun88 Betting Tips Free After all, Chennai Super Kings have typified the sort of success that the Bengaluru-based franchise have craved through their decade of disappointment. fun88 Betting Tips The RCB fan base remains defiant and vociferous, but its CSK counterpart - ever-vibrant, ever-loyal - knows exactly what the ultimate gratification for undying support feels like. Mumbai Indians emerged as the flag-bearers of the first decade of IPL courtesy their third title in 2017, but CSK remain the 'most consistent' team - making six finals out of eight, winning two and even pocking a couple of titles at the now-defunct Champions League T20.

As the teams square off for the first time since 2015, the gulf between the two is quite telling. CSK enjoy a 12-7 head-to-head advantage in 20 meetings, and are unbeaten in the last four encounters between the two. Match Betting Tips They've also nullified RCB's home ground advantage - if there's such a thing in cricket - with a 3-3 tally in seven outings. To add to it, RCB had to be content being second-best after running into CSK in the 2011 IPL final, and have won just one of the four tussles in the knockout and playoff rounds.

Dhoni & Co. have also made a rollicking - and rather unexpected - start to their 2018 campaign, peeling off nail-biting wins to take eight points of the available 10. Cbtf Tips The same cannot be said about Virat Kohli's men, who're yet to put on a complete performance that demonstrates an applaudable synchronisation between their batting and bowling output. Saturday's win over DD helped in distancing themselves from the bottom of the table, but they're still a long way from showing signs of being a top-four candidate.

CSK's possession of multiple game-turners with the bat puts the daylight between the two teams. Each CSK fixture has seen a different batsman put their hand up in times of crisis, something RCB seem to lack. Despite Mandeep Singh's promising form in the middle, and his insistence that there is more to RCB's batting beyond Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, there's very little evidence to suggest the same. fun88 Tips Free Kohli already has 200-plus runs, and de Villiers has been the central figure of RCB's two victories so far. De Villiers himself has defended his side and rubbished that notion, but there's a lot of work that the rest need to put in to justify it.

In two big chases - against Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians - RCB fell short because none of the batsmen could support Kohli. Free Betting Tips Against MI in particular, the skipper carried his bat with a 62-ball 92 in vain as the second-best score was Quinton de Kock's 19.

The bowling departments of both sides have been plagued by similar ills - lack of control in the death overs. Online Betting On fun88 They have conceded totals of 200 and above [once by CSK, twice by RCB] and are in need of addressing that issue at the earliest. Wednesday's fixture could be a good starting point for that endeavour for both teams, before they head into a period when the jostle for a spot in the top-half will intensify.

When: April 25, at 8 PM IST

Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

What to expect: A cloudy evening, with thunderstorms earlier in the day. fun88 Baazigar The weather forecast for Wednesday is very similar to what it was last Saturday, when RCB hosted DD. It is likely to be another slow wicket to bat first on, with dew assisting run-making in the second. Toss, as always, will be of paramount importance.

Team news

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel batted for long hours in the nets two days ahead of the fixture, but that's been the case since they've joined up with RCB. It is unlikely that Virat Kohli & co. will make changes to a winning side.

Probable XI: Quinton de Kock, Manan Vohra, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Corey Anderson, Mandeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Chennai Super Kings: Head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed that Imran Tahir is fit again, and hinted at using two leg-spinners for the game. fun88 Match Betting Tips That means Tahir could return in place of either Faf du Plessis or Sam Billings. If the former is retained, then Ambati Rayudu will continue to hold a middle-order role, else he might be required to open the batting with Shane Watson again. Fleming also talked about playing a third spinner in Harbhajan in order to tie down left-handers, but it might be a stretch for CSK to go with three spinners, in spite of the slowness of the track.

If RCB go unchanged, they'll have three left-handers in the line-up - Quinton de Kock, Corey Anderson and Washington Sundar, but with two of the most important players being right-handed, CSK are likely to stick with Karn to partner Tahir.

Probable XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Sam Billings/Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma/Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur

Interesting face-offs

Kohli vs CSK: 19 innings; 706 runs; Avg 44.13; SR 126.98; 6 X 50s; HS 73 - most by a player vs CSK in IPL, 156 more than the next best

Dhoni vs RCB: 22 innings; 608 runs; Avg 32.00; SR 135.71; 2 X 50s; HS 70* - most runs for him vs an opponent in IPL

Raina vs Chahal: Chahal has dismissed Raina four times on 57 balls. Raina has scored 79 runs off Chahal at a SR of 138.60.

Approaching milestones

Virat Kohli will be leading in his 100th match in the T20 format. He is the eighth player overall and the third Indian after MS Dhoni (244) and Gautam Gambhir (170).

Venue trends

Chinnaswamy Stadium has been the most batsman friendly venue this season (min. two games) with a scoring rate of 9.24 per over. Pacers concede at 9.72 per over while the spinners have done far better at 7.62.

IPL 2018 trends

CSK and RCB have been two of the best batting sides in the death overs this IPL - CSK scoring at 12.12 and RCB at 11.24. However, the same two sides concede the most with the ball in the last five overs - RCB at 12.87 and CSK at 10.89.

What they said:

"I know CSK have fans all over the country, and I believe they have a fair amount of support here in Bengaluru. But it will definitely be a home game for us. fun88 Betting Tips The crowd gets behind us when we get some momentum going. It's matter of playing well tomorrow and I feel the crowd will lift us a lot." - AB de Villiers on getting the home crowd backing.

"It is a special match, given the proximity of the two cities. fun88 Betting Tips Free There is a lot of interest, a lot of emotion and we have always enjoyed the encounters and have seen some great ones over the years. I don't think tomorrow will be any different." - Stephen Fleming on what to expect from the RCB-CSK clash.

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