A victory will be the minimum requirement for both teams when Rajasthan Royals take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at Jaipur in the first of Saturday’s double-header in the IPL.
A loss at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders landed a huge blow to the Royals’ playoff hopes while Virat Kohli‘s Royal Challengers are on a roll at the moment with three consecutive wins under their belts.
In a five-way race for two playoff spots that is set to go down to the last league fixture, a loss for either side on Saturday will signal the end of their campaign in the IPL this year.
ADVANTAGE ROYAL CHALLENGERS
Due to their positive net run-rate, a victory for the Royal Challengers would all but assure them of a place in the last-four.
On the other hand, a victory for Rajasthan will in no way guarantee Ajinkya Rahane’s men a spot in the Eliminator. Their abysmal net-run rate is the second worst among the five teams in play for the two playoff spots.
Hence, the Royals will need Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab to lose their final respective fixtures in case they do win on Saturday.
BUTTLER-SHAPED HOLE IN ROYALS
While the stakes couldn’t get any bigger for the Royals on Saturday, they will be without the services of England duo Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes who have returned home to participate in the upcoming Test series against Pakistan.
Buttler has been the player-of-the-tournament for Rajasthan with five back-to-back half-centuries prior to the side’s defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders.
On the other hand, Stokes was slowly coming into his own after a horrific start to his campaign. Their departure has come at the worst possible time for the franchise with the playoff battle nearing its conclusion.
As such, the Royal will need the likes of D’Arcy Short, Heinrich Klaasen or Ben Laughlin to step up in the duo’s absence at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Rajasthan Royals: Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson, Prashant Gupta, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Ben Laughlin, Ish Sodhi, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
