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It's the clash of "Royals" as the Royal Challengers Bangalore welcome the Rajasthan Royals for their second consecutive home game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, March 18th. Being the only game scheduled for the day, it'll start under lights much to the joy of the players and spectators alike. While the visitors come into the match in pursuit of the taste of victory this season, the hosts head into the game at the back of a superlative win against the Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday. The flat deck at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium saw over 400 runs being scored with a total of 18 sixes. With a stat like that, the Bangalore crowd could be in for another run fest, come Thursday, especially as a malnourished Rajasthan bowling attack comes calling.

The Hosts

The Royal Challengers Bangalore chased a target in excess of 200 runs with seven balls to spare to kick start their IPL 3.0 campaign on Tuesday. After a disastrous outing at the Eden Gardens, last year's runners up were in desperate search of a victory against Kings XI Punjab. And, a brilliant batting display from Bangalore's top three with the South African Jacques Kallis as the protagonist ensured that RCB are up and running in this year's IPL.

Young sensation Manish Pandey and veteran Jacques Kallis set the platform for victory on Tuesday as they shared a record opening partnership (74) for RCB in the IPLs. With the Rajasthan bowling looking erratic, Pandey and Kallis would relish the opportunity to face them on a batting paradise at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Robin Uthappa was a man on a mission as he took the Punjab bowlers to cleaners in his knock of 51 off 21 balls that included four boundaries and four sixes. If he carries on his form throughout the IPL 3.0, he is sure to make the selectors stand up and take notice.

Virat Kohli, who was in excellent form against the Sri Lankans earlier this year, new recruit Englishman Eoin Morgan, and seasoned campaigners Rahul Dravid and Mark Boucher give the middle order a perfect blend of youth and experience. With Kevin Peterson and Ross Taylor set to the join the team after getting done with their International commitments, RCB have a great batting line up which will definitely give them the edge over other teams in the latter stages of the tournament.

South African speedster Dale Steyn looked rusty in the opening games. But RCB skipper Anil Kumble will be hoping that his new ball pair of Steyn and Praveen Kumar can exploit the early bite in the pitch and also the inexperience of the visiting team. The battle between Yusuf Pathan and Anil Kumble will surely be the one to watch out for and might well prove to be the one that'll stand in the way of Rajasthan scoring big runs.

(Read more about BRC vs. KXIP and KKR vs BRC)

The Visitors

Two defeats in two matched leaves the champions of the inaugural IPL reeling at the bottom of the table. Add to that the injuries to their key players and you have a team that is woefully short on confidence. RR's opening batsman Graeme Smith has been ruled out of action from the remainder of IPL 3.0 with a finger injury. Smith had picked up the injury while taking a skier to dismiss Virender Sehwag in RR's previous match in Ahmedabad. Though the South African captain looked far from his best in the opening couple of games, the loss of a seasoned campaigner like Smith is sure to hit the Rajasthan Royals, who lack the fire power in their batting, hard. Hard hitters Yusuf Pathan (shoulder) and Dimitri Mascarehnas (ankle) picked up injuries in Ahmedabad and that have put question marks over their availability for the Bangalore game. But both are expected to shake off their injuries and make the playing XI come Thursday.

In Smith's absence, the Rajasthan Royals have Hampshire's Michael Lumb and the Australian pair of Damien Martyn and Adam Voges to choose from for the game against Bangalore. Lumb, who has over 1300 runs in Twenty20 games with a highest score of 124, looks most likely to make the cut in place of Smith. Swapnil Asnodkar, who had a great IPL-1, hasn't been able to get his team off to good starts either against Mumbai Indians or the Delhi Daredevils. And he would be hoping to change that statistic come Thursday. The middle order comprising of Naman Ojha, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Yusuf Pathan and Paras Dogra looks decent but consistency holds the key for them to succeed. Pathan nearly won the game for his team against the Mumbai Indians single handedly with a breath taking 37 ball century but he must be disappointed with the duck that he got in Ahmedabad. With Smith gone, Pathan needs to show maturity by stepping out of his binary world (100 followed by 0) and lead the Rajasthan batting from the front.

If batting had let the team down in Ahmedabad, the Rajasthan Royals' bowlers had no answer to the Sehwag onslaught that took the game away from them. Australian speedster Shaun Tait has oodles of pace but he lacks control big time and the batsmen hardly seem to be troubled with his speed. Morne Morkel would be an alternative to Tait, and medium pacers Dimitri Mascarehnas and Munuf Patel will need to back-up the strike bowler.

(Read more about RR vs. DD and MI vs. RR)

Trump Cards

Yusuf Pathan: The Baroda basher was unbelievable against Mumbai as he went from 15 off 14 balls to 69 off 25 balls with 6,6,6,6,4,4,6,4,4,4 and 4 off the next 11 consecutive balls. Though his brutal hitting is never a doubt, his lack of patience might prove to be his downfall.

Robin Uthappa: The Karnataka opener took Sreesanth to cleaners as he scored 25 runs in one over en route to the second fastest half century in IPLs at Bangalore on Tuesday. Expect Uthappa, who has been left in the cold, to enhance his reputation as a power hitter with the Twenty20 World cup round the corner.

Head-to-Head

Rajasthan enjoy an enviable record against Bangalore as they have won three out of the four ties between the two sides (read more). The Royal Challengers Bangalore have won just two games at the M Chinnaswamy stadium including the last one against KXIP on Tuesday in the total 8 matches played there. They would be desperate to improve their home record and with an out of sorts Rajasthan visiting them on Thursday, RCB have a great opportunity to chalk out another win in front of their home crowd.

Likely Playing XI

RCB: Kallis, Pandey, Uthappa, Kohli, Morgan, Dravid, Boucher, P Kumar, V Kumar, Kumble, Steyn

RR: Asnodkar, Lumb/Martyn, N Ohja, Jhunjhunwala, Y Pathan, Dogra, Mascarehnas, Uniyal, Warne, Tait, M Patel

Prediction: Rajasthan Royals come into the match as complete under dogs and the lack of experience in their batting makes it very difficult for them pull off a victory against the rampant Royal Challengers Bangalore.

File Photograph Copyright: Michael Henn

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