Jaipur, April 12 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals will be hoping their homecoming at their original turf, the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, brings them much-needed happiness and two vital points when they meet Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a crucial clash on Sunday afternoon.
A win is on the minds of both RR and RCB, who come into Sunday’s clash on the back of defeats in their respective last games. While RCB sits fourth in the standings with three wins out of five, RR is seventh with one less win coming in the same number of matches.
But everyone’s eyes during the action in Jaipur will be the battle between RCB’s opening pair of Phil Salt and Virat Kohli, and RR’s in-form express fast bowler Jofra Archer, who has rediscovered his fiery pace after a lean outing in first two games. Apart from Archer, veteran pacer Sandeep Sharma has been in great form.
But the rest of the RR bowling line-up needs to step up, especially after suffering a crushing 58-run loss to Gujarat Titans (GT), where their absence of a sixth bowling option stood out. RR will also need the likes of Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana to bat aggressively for a longer period, so that a platform is set for Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer to dominate.
On the other hand, RCB will wish for Kohli and Salt to continue in their dominating ways, and for Devdutt Padikkal to hit an important knock at one down. With Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone being in great nick, RCB can hope for the middle and lower order to fire after falling like nine pins to DC in their last game.
RCB boasts of a strong pace bowling attack in Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, alongside an uncapped Yash Dayal. But spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma can be better at stemming the run-flow when it matters the most. In all, a win for either of two teams at Jaipur will give a big boost to their campaign, while the losing team will face a setback in their quest to qualify for the playoffs.
When will RR vs RCB be played?
RR vs RCB will be played on Sunday.
Where will RR vs RCB be played?
RR vs RCB will be played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Where to watch the broadcast of RR vs RCB?
The broadcast of RR vs RCB will be available on Star Sports network.
Where to watch the live streaming of RR vs RCB?
The live streaming of RR vs RCB will be available on JioHotstar.
Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Romario Shepherd, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashok Sharma, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
–IANS
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