THE STORM has cleared and the dust is now beginning to settle with the teams getting at least one point difference between them. However, the intensity and pressure is still mounting as the teams make it through the second half of the league, proving to themselves and to the watching world, that they are the undisputed best.

As per schedule, the struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore take on a sinking Kolkata Knight Riders in a bottom of the table match today evening. The match is very crucial for Bangalore as it can dumb them back into the fire or can only push their semi-final hopes further away.

The Knight Riders, however, are a sorry loss. Overshadowed with controversy, captaincy issues, and the sore moral of losing almost everything this season, the team strives to secure a win here to ‘gather up some pride’.

The previous encounter between these two teams is the closest finish in the IPL. Bangalore overcame Kolkata’s 136 with just one ball to spare. Speculations over whether that win was a lucky one for Bangalore, if not silenced by their sudden spur before their previous match, would be a question that would be addressed in this clash.

Added to the Kolkata side is David Hussey joining them to practise some Twenty20 cricket before the T20 World Cup later this year.

With the melting popcorn in one hand and the sweat-drenched handkerchief in the other, the two cities gear up for the match they both think is rightfully theirs.