Comilla Victorians vs Rangpur Riders, Bangladesh Premier League 2019, Today Match Prediction 08 Jan 2019

cv vs rgr Match Prediction & Analysis

The defending champions Rangpur Riders and the table toppers of the last season would face each other in the 6th match of the 6th season of Bangladesh Premier League. After beating Rangpur Riders twice in the league stages the Victorians lost the match that mattered allowing the Riders to qualify for the Finals of BPL 2017.

Comilla Victorians would be keen to get things on track after the failure to reach the finals of the last season and especially after the good start they had this season. On the other hand, the defending champions have their issues to resolve to get going in the tournament. The close win against Khulna Titans must have settled some nerves but the Riders would have to improve their game if they are to have a chance of beating a settled Victorian side.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Comilla Victorians Preview

It was a difficult ending for the Victorians in the last season of Bangladesh Premier League 2017. After topping the table with most wins in the league stage, the Victorians failed to reach the finals despite getting a couple of chances to get there. One of the impediments on their way to the Finals were the Riders whom they will be facing at the Dhaka stadium in their second encounter of BPL 2019.

Comilla Victorians first encounter was against Sylhet Sixers who failed to put on a challenging total on the board and ended up scoring just 127 in the allotted 20 overs. The Victorians were clinical in the chase which was sealed by the T20 veteran Shahid Afridi with a boundary in the last over.

With the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Steve Smith, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi in the squad, the Victorians bat deep and have one of the best batting combinations in the series. Comilla Victorians would hope for this batting lineup to come good against the Riders.

Comilla Victorians Predicted Playing XI:

SPD Smith (c), Tamim Iqbal, E Lewis, Imrul Kayes, Shoaib Malik, Anamul Haque, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Hider, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Shahid

Rangpur Riders Preview

The defending champions Rangpur Riders did not have a start worthy of the champions to kick off the tournament. The Riders felt the absence of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers in the lineup for the opening game of the season. At one point they were reduced to 35 for 7 against Robbie Frylinck’s 4 for 14. If not for Ravi Bopara and Soab Gazi’s combined 65, they would have had to endure a much harder defeat to swallow.

The Riders came back strongly in the second game on the back of good performances from Rossouw and Bopara to score a competitive 169 and were able to defend it in a cliffhanger against Khulna Titans. 

The batting failed the Riders in the first game and bowling was tested in the second game despite a good score on the board. Both the departments, in the absence of some key players, need to up their game for the Riders to have any chance of defending the title in this season.

Rangpur Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Mashrafe Mortaza (c), RR Rossouw, Mehedi Maruf, AD Hales, Mohammad Mithun, RS Bopara, Nazmul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Farhad Reza, Sohag Gazi, BAC Howell

Weather Conditions

The matches at Dhaka have been low scoring ones on the slow and tricky surface in the Bangladesh Premier League so far. This is also highlighted by the fact that it took almost 20 overs for Chittagong Vikings and Comilla Victorians to chase below par scores of 98 and 127, respectively.

Toss: To Bat

The teams winning the toss should look to restrict the opposition to a small score in helpful conditions by opting to field first, and then, should look to bat sensibly to chase the target down.