- Royal Challengers Bangalore will face Rajasthan Royals in Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on 29 April, Tuesday.
- RCB’s play-off took a hit after they lost to Delhi Capitals by 16 runs on Sunday.
- Rajasthan, who have won three of their last four games, will be eyeing a win to keep their play-off chances alive.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a forgettable IPL season and to dash off Rajasthan Royals’ qualifying hopes may do them some good when they host the latter on Tuesday.
With only eight games left before the playoffs, the race for the fourth spot is on with four teams tied at 10 points and net run rate being a crucial factor.
Rajasthan, with 10 points from 12 games, still have a theoretical chance to make it to the play-offs, provided they do not lose any of their remaining two matches.
Also, they would require table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals to defeat their respective opponents.
Under the circumstances, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes' absence will add to Rajasthan's pressure, more so when Archer's 12-ball 27 for a winning cause against Kolkata Knight Riders is taken into account.
Jos Buttler, who had 311 runs and three fifties in eight innings, had also returned to England for World Cup preparations.
The Revival of Royals
The change in captaincy by replacing Ajinkya Rahane with Steve Smith has helped RR to a large extent as it eased pressure off Rahane who roared back to form with an elegant century, albeit in a losing cause, against Delhi Capitals.
It also saw Rajasthan bring their campaign back on track by beating Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.
RR's last wins in two games which they won against SRH and KKR will surely boost the dressing room morale with young players such as Riyan Parag stepping up for the team in the absence of overseas players’.
They, however, still need to iron out a few flaws which have plagued them of late. The failure to grab moments, which cost them the games against Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, is one of them.
The biggest positive for Rajasthan has been Shreyas Gopal, who, with his googlies, deceived the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer in the previous match.
Sanju Samson, who had hit the first ton of this IPL, has also been dependable at top of the order.
Hosts RCB will be playing for pride after their slender hopes of entering the play-offs went up in smoke with their defeat to Delhi Capitals on Sunday.
Teams
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Steve Smith, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Ish Sodhi, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Liam Livingstone, Varun Aaron, Shahshank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (capt), Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Colin de Grandhomme, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Moeen Ali, Shimron Hetmyer, Dale Steyn, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Devdutt Padikkal, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Heinrich Klaasen, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Ray Barman, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee.
Match starts at 8 pm.
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