Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle's poor form has been one of the reasons for RCB's lack of wins in the 2016 IPL Getty

Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Pune Supergiants in the 35th match of the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on 7 May (Saturday).

Where to watch live

Match starts at 11.30am BST/4pm IST. Live coverage of the game is available on Sky Sports 5 and Sky Sports 5 HD in the UK. Sony Max, Sony Six and Sony ESPN will telecast it live in India.

Click here to find out how to watch IPL matches live on mobile and TV across the globe.

Overview

Royal Challengers Bangalore are desperately seeking a win as they currently find themselves in the seventh place level on points with Kings XI Punjab, who are bottom of the league. They are winless in their last three matches and it is apparent where their problem lies. Their batsmen have been consistently putting the runs on the board, but the bowling lacks the cutting edge to win matches.

The loss of Mitchell Starc and Samuel Badree has struck them hard as they do not have a premium strike bowler who can get them wickets early on in the game.

Chris Jordan's arrival will give the bowling some bite and he is likely to replace Chris Gayle, who has been woefully out of form. RCB have seven games remaining and they will need to win most of them if they are to make the playoff stage of the competition.

The Rising Pune Supergiants are also not faring as well as expected and they are just one place above the Challengers and two points ahead. The IPL's new entrants have struggled in most games, but are coming off a win over the Delhi Daredevils in their previous game. M S Dhoni is new to this situation in the IPL as his previous team the now defunct Chennai Super Kings were one of the most consistent performers in the previous editions.

Prediction

Royal Challengers Bangalore to win

Betting odds (betfair)

  • RCB to win: 5/8
  • RPS to win: 6/5

Team news

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Possible XI: Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Chris Jordan, KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Shamsi, Sreenath Aravind.

Pune Supergiants

Possible XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, George Bailey, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Scott Boland, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, R Ashwin, M Ashwin, Ashok Dinda.