Kings XI and Royal Challengers square off for first points

Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab will both be keen to avoid their second straight loss when they face off at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore today.

Anil Kumble will be hoping that the home venue proves lucky for him while the Kumar Sangakkara-led Punjab lads will hope to turn the tables on the hosts, just as the Delhi Daredevils had done to them at Mohali on Saturday.

There's not much to choose from between the two sides. On paper, they match up department by department. However, Kings XI Punjab will claim to have higher morale as they managed to run Delhi close in their first game. The Bangalore outfit on the other hand were comprehensively beaten by Ganguly's wards.

Batting failure

Bangalore's batting was in shambles against Kolkata and barring Jacques Kallis none of the others seemed to have a clue of what was happening. And it was disappointing to see a player of Rahul Dravid's stature drag one on to his stumps. In all probability, Bangalore will replace Sreevats Goswami with wicketkeeper-batsman Mark Boucher and that will lend some solidity and grit to their line-up.

Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli will also have to get their footwork right. Chinnaswamy has always been a high-scoring venue and the two young guns will have to ensure that the ball hits the sweet spot on their bat more often than not.

Kumble and coach Ray Jennings will also be worried by Bangalore's bowling woes, especially the manner in which Dale Steyn was sent on a leather hunt by Knight Riders' Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge. Steyn must fire for Bangalore, otherwise at his pace he will be easy pickings for the Punjab team that is full of hitters like Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene.

Punjab's line-up looks more balanced and their bowling is quite strong. S. Sreesanth was back to his best against Delhi and, along with Yousuf Abdullah, made it a really close contest.