Rajasthan cannot afford to lose another game this season as they target the playoff spots, Punjab need just two wins out of five
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) face off for the second time in three days in match 40 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Jaipur on Tuesday. Kings XI are comfortably placed in third position on the table and look all set to make it to the playoffs if they can get just two wins from their five remaining fixtures. Rajasthan on the other hand are languishing at the bottom of the table and need to win five out of the next five to stand a chance to qualify.
In their previous meeting Kings XI Punjab won the game comfortably thanks to a match winning knock by KL Rahul (84*). Jos Buttler gave Rajasthan a good start putting on 51 runs in just 39 balls. However, none of the other batsmen could add substantially to that as Rajasthan only managed to score 152 runs in their 20 over quota. Rajasthan then began their defence well by dismissing Gayle and Agarwal quickly but couldn’t get the important wicket of Rahul, who stayed on till the end guiding his team to a .
Rajasthan know that they cannot afford another loss and will have to be on their ‘A’ game against a dominant Punjab unit who will be targeting the top two spots on the points table.
Match Details:
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Timing – 8 pm
Venue – Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
Where to watch – Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD
Head to head – Rajasthan hold the statistical advantage over the Kings, having won nine out of the 16 encounters between both teams. However, Punjab aren’t too far behind with seven wins over the Royals.
Team News:
Rajasthan haven’t been firing on all cylinders and it will be interesting to see if the management sticks with the same set of players. D’Arcy Short could be replaced by Heinrich Klaasen and even Dhawal Kulkarni will be expected to make a return to the playing 11.
Punjab will most likely stick to the same playing 11 that beat Rajasthan convincingly in their previous outing.
Prediction: Who will win?
Rajasthan enter this tie on the back of a three-game losing streak. Knowing that they cannot afford another defeat this season they could be tipped to cause an upset by beating higher placed KXIP. Punjab however, aren’t an easy opponent to play against especially with Ashwin at the helm.
Betting odds: According to Oddscheker.com, the odds are placed at 5/4 for RR and 8/11 for KXIP.
Pitch: This Jaipur wicket is considered one of the best batting surfaces where the ball comes nicely onto the bat. However, batsmen will have to be wary of the big ground since most of their lofted shots will land within the range of fielders.
Moneycontrol Dream XI: KL Rahul (wk), S Samson, C Gayle, A Rahane, B Stokes, R Ashwin, K Gowtham, J Archer, M Rahman, A Rajpoot and J Unadkat.
Players to watch out for:
Jos Buttler (RR) – The explosive wicket keeper batsman has scored back-to-back half centuries in his previous two outings. He also boasts of the highest strike rate of 148.75 among all the RR batsmen. It was a Mujeeb Ur Rahman turner that accounted for him in the previous game and he will have used the time between games to go back and study the bowler better.
KL Rahul (KXIP) – The other wicket keeper batsman featuring tonight comes in fresh from a match winning knock of 84* off just 54 balls. Sticking with those classic cricket shots that he has built a reputation on, Rahul has looked solid at the crease all season. He will be looking to give his team another great start when he takes the field tonight.
IPL points table:
With six wins out of nine games this season, Punjab are third on the table with 12 points. Rajasthan however, sit right at the bottom with just six points from their nine games. Check out the updated points table here.