RCB hopes to build winning momentum (Preview)

Bangalore, April 9 (IANS) An upbeat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) hope to build a winning momentum in the league matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL-5) T20 when they take on a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium here Tuesday.

Surcharged by their dramatic 20-run win over Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the first game on home turf Saturday, the hosts are sweating it out at the nets to do an encore, with Sri Lankan Thilakaratne Dilshan joining the team and the prospects of explosive opener Chris Gayle playing in the second game as he is fully fit.

"With Dilshan joining, we have too many to choose from though we can have only four foreign players in the final 11. With Gayle recovering from a groin niggle, we will select the best to maintain the winning combination," RCB captain Daniel Vettori told reporters here Monday ahead of another exciting match.

If Gayle and Dilshan are playing, RCB may have to rest Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald though he opened the innings against Daredevils in the absence of the Jamaican southpaw. With Man of the Match AB de Villiers being the wicketkeeper, legendary Muthiah Muralitharan will be the fourth foreign player as an offie in the team.

Admitting that Knight Riders would be desperately looking for a win after losing the first two games against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur Sunday and Daredevils at Kolkata April 5, Vettori said they would go into the game with a strategy for an all-out win.

"We are aware of the KKR strengths, as they have a formidable batting line up with the likes of (Jacques) Kallis, (Gautam) Gambhir and (Brendon) McCullum, who is a dangerous player on any day. We will try to restrict their top order from making things difficult for us," Vettori asserted.

Lauding Muralitharan for turning around the game against DD in their favour, Vettori said it was a great advantage to have a world class spinner like the Sri Lankan in the team along with him and pacers Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar.

"Murali is the best among the bowlers of all times. He is a wicket taker and a strike bowler. It is important for us to have a combination of myself and him, hopefully take wickets and stop runs. He is the best guy to throw the ball to when you need a wicket," Vettori noted.