Rangpur Riders vs Chittagong Vikings, Bangladesh Premier League 2019, Today Match Prediction 05 Jan 2019

rgr vs chiv Match Prediction & Analysis

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Season 6 is all set to begin at Dhaka on 5th of January 2019. The last season happened in 2017 which was won by Rangpur Riders defeating Dhaka Dynamites in the Finals by 57 runs. The Riders will take on Chittagong Vikings in the opening game of BPL season 6.

The 7-team tournament will start on 5th of January and will have its Final on 8th of February 2019. The tournament format consists of a double round robin stage followed by playoffs consisting of eliminator and qualifiers and then the Final.

Rangpur Riders, who won their first title last season, would be looking to continue the winning run. On the other hand, the Vikings, who ended up at the bottom of the table last season, must be hoping for a better showing by the team this time.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Rangpur Riders Preview

Rangpur Riders were not the best team of the last season, but they upped their game at the right moment in the tournament to register their maiden title win in the BPL. With 6 wins in 12 matches, the Riders just managed to qualify for the playoffs as the 4th team. However, after that, they won 3 consecutive matches on the way to the Championship.

No one can forget the century in the Finals where Chris Gayle blew Dhaka Dynamites away with 146 runs in just 69 deliveries winning the match single-handedly. This is the highest score in BPL and the highest in a T20 final. With 485 runs to his name, Gayle was the top run scorer of the tournament and was the man of the series as well.

Along with Gayle, captain Mashrafe Mortaza, AB de Villiers, Alex Hales, Ravi Bopara, and Rilee Rossouw will form the core of the team.

Rangpur Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, Mohammad Mithun (wk), AB de Villiers, Ravi Bopara, Nadif Chowdhury, Sohag Gazi, Abul Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Islam

Chittagong Vikings Preview

The Vikings had a tough last season with just 3 wins to show for the whole season. They had their moment of brilliance when they managed to score the second highest total of the tournament, 211, against Sylhet Sixers in the league game where Sikandar Raza top scored with 95. However, such moments were few and far between.

Although they could assemble a team at the very last moment for BPL Season 6, the new season brings new hope for the Vikings. They have in Mushfiqur Rahim one of the best batsmen in Bangladesh across format as their captain. Luke Ronchi from New Zealand and Sikander Raza from Zimbabwe, who performed well in the last season, have been retained.

The explosive opener from Afghanistan, Mohammed Shehzad, would add solidity and the X-factor at the top of the order.

Chittagong Vikings Predicted Playing XI:

Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Shahzad, Shadman Islam, Sikandar Raza, Mosaddek Hossain, Robbie Frylinck, Sunzamul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed, Khaled Ahmed

Weather Conditions

The conditions at Shere Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur are expected to be good for batting with some early assistance to the seamers but not in excess. It should enable free-scoring once the batsmen get in.

Toss: To Bat

The team winning the Toss should look to Bat first at Dhaka and use the runs on the board to exert pressure on the chasing team and induce mistakes in the process.