England vs South Africa - First ODI of CWC 2019 - A Preview

A great start to the campaign and Consistency is what every team would like to achieve, to earn a semi-final berth. England and South africa would like to get ahead in the race, but they need to face each other right at the start. Hopefully, they would go long in the tournament and shed off the choker's tag by lifting the trophy.

Dale Steyn would not play today due to an injury and that would be a big loss. K Rabada has the potential to be a match winner on his own. Faf du plessis needs to provide Rabada more men at catching positions, whenever he steps into bowl. The supporting bowlers needs to step up too and the experience of Imran Tahir would come in handy. Tahir is a wicket taking bowler and he is smart to adapt to playing conditions outside home. Lungi Ngidi has impressed many with his performances too.

 England have a better bowling combination with the late inclusion of Jofra Archer, who could be a sensation in this edition of world cup. England's strength is their bowling all rounders with Ben Stokes leading the way, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer would follow. Eoin Morgan will be a happy captain to have so many all rounders in his kitty. Tom Curran has always been in the wicket taking lists too.

When it comes to batting comparisons, England outweigh south africans there too. Jason Roy has been sensational in the past 2 years along with Johny Bairstow. Joe Root was also consistent, and one of the three kept on scoring big in the last 2 years. If that was not enough, Ben Stokes and Jos Butler were brilliant in chasing down scores along with Moeen Ali and Morgan playing the supporting hand. Chris Woakes is no mug with the bat and Archer is handy too.

For RSA, Hashim Amla's experience of playing in big tournaments would come in handy. Faf du plessis, Quinton de kock, Duminy are the other batsmen, who are in good nick. Their recent batting form in comparison to England is below par, but they have a chance to rise up to the occasion in their first encounter today.

Kennington Oval features a bowler friendly wicket as it would be a green top, but once the openers see off the new ball, they could post big scores and could chase down big scores too. England should be able to conquer South africa today, if they could deprive Kagiso Rabada the match winning spell.

IPL 2019 - CSK vs RCB - A Perfect rivalry to Kickstart the twelfth version

Has RCB addressed their death bowling concern, which has always haunted them in defending big scores in the past ?

If we look at the combination for this year, Coulter Nile, Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav are the bowlers who need to step up for RCB. Tim Southee is known for yorkers and sensible slower ones. Their bowlers have to be heavily backed by the management. RCB have to learn from the likes of Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, who have premier bowler, who would play every match of the season and are great death bowlers too.

Interesting addition is Shimron Hetmyer. With the backing of Virat Kohli, he could be a batting sensation for RCB. We all saw what he could do, when he showed his consistency against Indians in ODI encounters, when West indies toured India. RCB is a batting powerhouse, and this season would also feature loads of runs from them and no doubt Virat Kohli would lead them. Mr.360 degree would enjoy too and that would be dangerous for the opponents.

CSK has retained most of their players from their trophy win last year. Mohit Sharma is a value add player for their death bowling. CSK's strength has always been their all rounders, who would contribute when it is least expected. Kedar Jaadav would be available throughout the tournament and MSD would use him wisely, as his fitness is crucial for World cup and Dhoni himself would keep that factor alive for himself.

Chepauk would host CSK, which was missing for a long time. The best fan club in the world and knowledgeable cricket crowd would love to be part of this mega clash between arch rivals. CSK leads the race, with 14 wins to 7 against RCB and 23rd encounter would happen on 23rd March 2019. This statistics alone would tell the story, why CSK are hot favorites.

Lungi Ngidi would be unavailable for CSK, but they have a wonderful combination in Mohit Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Bravo, Tahir, Jadeja and Santner. One won't be surprised if Santner plays regularly as his all-round skills would be utilized by Dhoni, as MSD is a big fan of slow bowlers to control the game for him. Chepauk wicket is spinner friendly, with lot of bounce and turn. RCB also have a good slow bowling combination, as Chahal would lead the attack and Washington Sundar along with Moeen Ali could control the game for RCB.

A wonderful match on the cards and a scintillating start to 12th edition of Vivo IPL would hook everyone to the match. Let us all enjoy...