The in-form Royal Challengers Bengaluru against a side who are on a slide viz. Rajasthan Royals in a do-or-die IPL Eliminator in Ahmedabad on May 22, 2024
| Photo Credit: K. Bhagya Prakash

When Rajasthan Royals won its eighth match of the IPL season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru had just two victories. Where RR seemed set for a top-two finish, RCB was all but out of contention for a place in the playoffs.

Since then, the sides’ paths have diverged dramatically; RR contrived to finish third while RCB stormed into fourth, setting the stage for an exciting Eliminator clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 21.

Royals haven’t won a game since their seven-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants on April 27 and come into this fixture on the back of four consecutive defeats and a washed-out final league game.

In contrast, RCB’s journey has been the stuff of dreams, cinematic in every way. After losing seven of its first eight games, Faf du Plessis’ men have won their last six, including the last against Chennai Super Kings on a dramatic night at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

With the wind behind its sails, RCB will feel it has an edge based on recent form and clarity in gameplan. The turnaround has been fashioned by its batting firepower, led by Virat Kohli.

Rajat Patidar’s uptick in form and impetus in the middle-overs have ensured the team is not over-reliant on the top-order.

Among bowlers, Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson and Yash Dayal have done their bits to keep opponents in check.

For Royals, skipper Sanju Samson has led from the front, scoring heavily in its first eight wins. The 2008 champion’s troubles in recent times stem from its misfiring middle-order. Lack of runs from Dhruv Jurel and Rovman Powell has exposed vulnerabilities.

Shimron Hetmyer’s absence has affected the balance of the side, and the Rajasthan outfit will pray that the West Indian is fit for this tie. RR will also look to fall back on its bowling depth, which has a mix of top-class pacers and spinners, to tip the scales in its favour.

Despite having its back to the wall, RCB has livened up the tournament by playing with freedom. But now that the stakes are higher, will it continue sticking to its proven formula and extend the fairytale?

Teams (from):

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c&wk), Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Kuldeep Sen, Kunal Singh Rathore, Nandre Burger, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tanush Kotian.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan.

Match starts at 7:30pm IST.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma celebrates after scoring fifty runs during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Punjab Kings in Hyderabad on May 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

Brushing aside the first-ball dismissal of the explosive Travis Head, his opening partner Abhishek Sharma showcased an amazing range of stroke-play to ensure Sunrisers Hyderabad finished off its league engagements in style with a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Sunday.

Chasing a victory target of 215, Sunrisers’ batting depth came to the fore, with Rahul Tripathi setting the tone with some brilliant strokes and then Abhishek serving another reminder of his growing stature as a future India star.

The way Abhishek stood up and swung Rishi Dhawan first and later carted spinner Harpreet Brar for two huge sixes was an indication of his authority, class, and timing against pace and spin alike.

Later, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen came up with superbly-paced knocks to help the team’s cause, even as the Punjab bowlers faltered on yet another perfect batting strip.

Great start

Earlier, southpaw Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh ensured a splendid start for Punjab, putting on 97 in 9.1 overs before the former slashed a wide ball from left-arm pacer T. Natarajan straight to the fielder.

The pair batted with great freedom, and the way Atharva straight drove SRH skipper Pat Cummins and later swung Bhuvneshwar Kumar over the fence effortlessly was a treat to watch.

Prabhsimran also showed his class by pulling Cummins to the fence and then whipping the Australian effortlessly over square leg for a six.

The stage was set for the dangerous Rilee Rossouw, and he came good with some lusty blows, with a penchant for the pull stroke. He and Prabhsimran put on 54 for the second wicket before the latter was snapped up brilliantly by wicketkeeper Klaasen off leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth in the 15th over.

Punjab lost its way in the last five overs, scoring just 55 runs and losing three wickets, including those of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma cheaply.

Captain Jitesh Sharma’s cameo, including two huge sixes off the last two balls of the innings from the most expensive SRH bowler Nitish, boosted the total.

Scoreboard

Punjab Kings: Atharva Taide c Sanvir b Natarajan 46 Prabhsimran Singh c Klaasen b Viyaskanth 71 Rilee Rossouw c Samad b Cummins 49 Shashank Singh run out (Nitish) 2 Jitesh Sharma not out 32 Ashutosh Sharma c Sanvir b Natarajan 2 Shivam Singh not out 2 Extras: 10 (lb-5, w-4, nb-1)

Total: 214/5 in 20 overs

Fall of wickets: 1-97, 2-151, 3-174, 4-181, 5-187

Sunriser Hyderabad bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-36-0, Pat Cummins 4-0-36-1, T Natarajan 4-0-33-2, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 4-0-37-1, Shahbaz Ahmed 1-0-13-0, Nitish Reddy 3-0-54-0.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head b Arshdeep 1 Abhishek Sharma c Shivam b Shashank 66 Rahul Tripathi c Arshdeep b Harshal 33 Nitish Reddy c Shivam b Harshal 37 Heinrich Klaasen b Brar 42 Shahbaz Ahmed c Shashank b Harshal 3 Abdul Samad not out 11 Sanvir Singh not out 6 Extras: 17 (lb-6, w-10, nb-1)

Total: 215/6 in 19.1 overs

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-72, 3-129, 4-176, 5-197, 6-208

Punjab Kings bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-37-2, Rishi Dhawan 3-0-35-0, Harshal Patel 4-0-49-2, Rahul Chahar 4-0-43-0, Harpreet Brar 3-0-36-1, Shashank Singh 1-0-5-1, Atharva Taide 0.1-0-4-0.

High on confidence after making their first playoffs in three years, Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim for a second-place finish in the IPL points table when they take on Punjab Kings in their final league game in Hyderabad on May 19.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sunrisers Hyderabad, which has already qualified for the playoffs, takes on a depleted Punjab Kings in its last IPL league match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on May 19 afternoon.

Sunrisers, with 15 points from 13 outings, should look to claim full points against a team which will not have the services of key players like Sam Curran, who led the team in the absence of injured Shikhar Dhawan, and hard-hitting Jonny Bairstow in what should be yet another good IPL wicket if the weather stays clear.

Importantly, the home side played its last game on May 8 when it drubbed Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets and with many players taking a long break, it will be interesting to see how quickly they regain the momentum ahead of the playoffs.

Imposing batters

For most of the league so far, Sunrisers relied heavily on the imposing batting line-up. And, to its delight, the senior pro Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back at his best in the last few games, providing the crucial breakthroughs in the company of captain Pat Cummins and left-armers T. Natarajan and Jaydev Unadkat.

On form, it should be an easy outing for the Cummins’ men against PBKS.

On the other hand, Kings’ pacers Arshdeep Singh, and Harshal Patel — who is the leading wicket-taker with 22 wickets in the IPL this season — hold the key in keeping a check on the run-flow with leggie Rahul Chahar expected to raise the bar.

In batting, Kings badly need the likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, captain Jitesh Sharma, and Ashutosh Sharma to score big for the bowlers to have a go.

Teams (from):

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Agarwal.

Punjab Kings: Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Jitesh Sharma (c & wk), Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.

Match starts at 3:30pm IST.

Rajasthan Royals will be desperate to snap their four-match losing streak and finish in the top two when they meet table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders in an important IPL game in Guwahati on May 19.   
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

An alert from the National Disaster Management Authority bears grim prognoses about impending thunderstorms, rain and gusty wind for the residents here ahead of Rajasthan Royals versus Kolkata Knight Riders, Indian Premier League’s last group-stage fixture.

That the match at Barsapara Stadium may end up deciding whether Sanju Samson’s men finish in the top two, may have the dugout addressing a prayer or two to the weather gods.

How things are

The mathematics is quite simple now. If RR wins against KKR on Sunday, it enters Qualifier 1. However, a Chennai Super Kings loss on Saturday and a Punjab Kings win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the day game on Sunday can also ensure a second-place finish for the RR without it having to take the field.

If Sunday’s contest does get underway, death overs are where Samson’s team needs to metamorphose into its full glory. RR has not only scored 71 runs more than KKR between the 16th and 20th over, but it has also picked 24 wickets, a touch better than KKR’s 21. RR will also carry a psychological advantage for it pulled off a record chase to prevail the last time these two sides met.

An interesting duel to look forward to will be the one between spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Yuzvendra Chahal in the middle overs. While Varun has picked 16 wickets, the most by any bowler in 2024 between overs 7 and 16, Chahal has accounted for 15.

KKR will not have Phil Salt, who has flown back to England on national duty, in the eleven. Although Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be an ideal like-for-like replacement, Shreyas Iyer and Co. haven’t officially named anybody.

Teams (from):

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atkinson and Allah Ghazanfar.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Kuldeep Sen, Kunal Singh Rathore, Nandre Burger, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tanush Kotian

Match starts: 7.30pm.

Rain clouds hover around the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, during training ahead of the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), in Bengaluru on May 17, 2024
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Bengaluru’s weather is so notoriously fickle that its tantrums have acquired cult status. On May 18, the city faithful will be praying that it behaves, for a washout against Chennai Super Kings will send their beloved Royal Challengers Bengaluru out.

There is indeed an inglorious tradition of rain affecting at least one RCB home game in an IPL season. An unrelenting summer has ensured that RCB has dodged the bullet six times in the 2024 edition.

However, Saturday’s forecast is for good amounts of precipitation, and it seems like luck may have finally run out.

Scope for hope

There is, of course, the state-of-the-art SubAir drainage system that can get the ground ready in no time. And if the skies relent for two hours, a five-over match is eminently possible. But would five overs do justice to a clash that will be one of the last times Virat Kohli and M.S. Dhoni face-off?

Another variable is the pitch. This season, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has been far from the batting paradise it usually is; only twice has the 200-run mark been breached in 12 innings (RCB vs. SRH). But the last time CSK and RCB met in Bengaluru, 444 runs were scored. A repeat is in the hands of the weather gods.

It’s not for nothing that Nicholas Pooran is rated so highly in white-ball cricket. At the Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai Indians on Friday, the Caribbean power-hitter’s blitz (75, 29b, 5×4, 8×6) piloted Lucknow Super Giants to 214 for six and set up an 18-run win in its final IPL fixture of the season.

A slow start by LSG captain K.L. Rahul (55, 41b, 3×4, 3×6) allowed the home team to keep things under check until the 11th over before Pooran took charge. Walking in with his team at 69 for three, Pooran counter-attacked. He hit a couple of fours and as many sixes off Anshul Kamboj before smashing two huge sixes off MI skipper Hardik Pandya.

Pooran brought up his third half-century of the season off just 19 deliveries and forged a 109-run stand with Rahul for the fourth wicket. He was at his scintillating best in the 15th over as hit Arjun Tendulkar’s first two deliveries for sixes before the bowler walked off the field due to cramps. The left-hander then hoisted Naman Dhir into the stands before missing a maximum off the fourth by a whisker. A single and a six from Rahul completed the over.

Just when he looked on course for a hundred, Pooran was caught by Suryakumar Yadav at long-on off Nuwan Thushara. Arshad Khan was dismissed off the next ball before Piyush Chawla performed a team hat-trick, removing Rahul off the first delivery of the next over.

Ayush Badoni slammed 19 off the final over bowled by Romario Shepherd .

MI started its chase briskly before rain interrupted play for 45 minutes. With Rohit Sharma (68, 38b, 10×4, 3×6) in good nick and Dewald Brevis lending good support, the host cruised to 78 for no loss in eight overs.

Rohit hit speedsters Mohsin Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq for a flurry of boundaries while Brevis joined in with a four and six off Naveen in the ninth over. The South African’s innings ended when he was caught by Krunal Pandya.

In the next over, Krunal dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for a duck before Ravi Bishnoi ended Rohit’s stay. Though Naman Dhir (62 n.o., 28b, 4×4, 5×6) battled on, the target proved too stiff for Hardik’s men.

SCOREBOARD

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS

K.L. Rahul c Thushara b Chawla 55 (41b, 3×4, 3×6), Devdutt Padikkal lbw b Thushara 0 (1b), Marcus Stoinis lbw b Chawla 28 (22b, 5×4), Deepak Hooda c Wadhera b Chawla 11 (9b, 1×4), Nicholas Pooran c Suryakumar b Thushara 75 (29b, 5×4, 8×6), Arshad Khan c Wadhera b Thushara 0 (1b), Ayush Badoni (not out) 22 (10b, 1×4, 2×6), Krunal Pandya (not out) 12 (7b, 1×4, 1×6); Extras (w-11): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 214.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-1 (Padikkal, 0.3 overs), 2-49 (Stoinis, 5.6), 3-69 (Hooda, 9.3), 4-178 (Pooran, 16.5), 5-178 (Arshad, 16.6), 6-178 (Rahul, 17.1).

MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING

Thushara 4-0-28-3, Arjun 2.2-0-22-0, Anshul 3-0-48-0, Chawla 4-0-29-3, Wadhera 2-0-13-0, Hardik 2-0-27-0, Naman 0.4-0-17-0, Shepherd 2-0-30-0.

MUMBAI INDIANS

Rohit Sharma (Impact Player in place of Thushara) c Mohsin b Bishnoi 68 (38b, 10×4, 3×6), Dewald Brevis c Hardik b Naveen 23 (20b, 1×4, 2×6), Suryakumar Yadav c Bishnoi b Krunal 0 (3b), Ishan Kishan b Naveen 14 (15b, 1×4), Hardik Pandya c Naveen b Mohsin 16 (13b, 1×4, 1×6), Nehal Wadhera c Krunal b Bishnoi 1 (3b), Naman Dhir (not out) 62 (28b, 4×4, 5×6), Romario Shepherd (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (nb-1, w-10): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 196.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-88 (Brevis, 8.4), 2-89 (Suryakumar, 9.2), 3-97 (Rohit, 10.5), 4-116 (Hardik, 13.3), 5-120 (Wadhera, 14.2), 6-188 (Kishan, 19.3).

SUPER GIANTS BOWLING

Arshad 2-0-11-0, Henry 2-0-24-0, Krunal 4-0-29-1, Mohsin 4-0-45-1, Naveen (Impact Player in place of Badoni) 4-0-50-2, Bishnoi 4-0-37-2.

Toss: MI; PoM: Pooran.

LSG won by 18 runs.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s fairytale resurgent run will be up against the might of five-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the weather gods when the two sides clash in an epic do-or-die match to decide the fourth and final team for the IPL play-offs, in Bengaluru on May 18.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam/R.V. Moorthy

On Sunday, just over 24 hours after the first ball of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru-Chennai Super Kings contest is sent down at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the last round of fixtures in the English Premier League will commence.

All ten football matches will begin at the same time — both at the start and after half-time — and no team will have the benefit of knowing beforehand what has happened elsewhere. Manchester City and Arsenal are separated by two points at the top and are set for a pulsating race to the finish.

Such a level playing field has so far proved alien to the Indian Premier League, and thus, RCB and CSK know exactly what is required of them on Saturday to get into the playoffs.

RCB needs a win, with conditions applied. Assuming there is a full 20-over match and a score of 200, it has to beat CSK by 18 runs or chase down the target with about 11 balls to spare.

Any other result, including a washout — the forecast is for rain — will send CSK through. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men can potentially zoom up to second if they triumph, and Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals lose on Sunday.

RCB has won five fixtures in a row and it’s a minor miracle that it is still in contention after once being the favourite to collect the wooden spoon.

But with Will Jacks returning to England, all eyes will be on Glenn Maxwell. The 35-year-old has totalled a paltry 36 runs from seven innings this campaign, but a replacement of his calibre is not something many teams have.

CSK has alternated between victory and defeat over the last six games. And against a destructive batting unit like RCB’s, its bowlers have to be spot on. With Englishman Moeen Ali having left the Indian shores, one of Mitchell Santner or Richard Gleeson is likely to play.

Teams (from):

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan.

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Moeen Ali, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar and Aravelly Avanish.

Match starts: 7.30 pm.

Delhi Capitals not only barely managed to keep itself alive in the race to the Playoffs but also made things worse for Lucknow Super Giants after beating the latter by 19 runs in an IPL match here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

Chasing 209, Ishant Sharma rocked Super Giants inside the PowerPlay, picking three wickets and leaving the Lucknow-based franchise struggling at 44 for four.

The pacer got K.L. Rahul caught in the first over, Quinton de Kock in the next, and followed by trapping Deepak Hooda in front in his third.

Pooran explodes

LSG still managed to get 59 runs in the first six overs, thanks to Nicholas Pooran taking down Axar Patel, who removed Marcus Stoinis off the first ball, for 20 runs in the fourth over.

While Pooran looked at ease hitting six fours and four sixes during his 27-ball 61, he couldn’t garner much support from the other end. Arshad Khan then threatened to close the game with his 33-ball 58 but it wasn’t enough for LSG to get two points.

Put into bat, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel helped Capitals post an eighth 200-plus score at the Arun Jaitley Stadium — joint most at any venue in a season.

Stubbs hit four sixes and three fours during his unbeaten 57 as Capitals smashed 72 runs in death overs, after LSG threatened to choke the scoring rate in the middle phase.

Stubbs scored his first boundary — a six — only off his 10th ball against Arshad. In the same over, he hit two more fours.

His innings came at a time when Ravi Bishnoi (one for 26) and spinners didn’t allow batters to score freely.

Bishnoi picked the crucial wicket of Porel, who hit 58 in 33 balls and helped DC cross the 100-run mark inside 10 overs.

Opening the innings, Porel began with an upper cut for six against Mohsin Khan before smashing three fours and a six in the Arshad’s next over.

Shai Hope then smacked Yudhvir Singh for two fours and a six as DC raced to 73 runs inside the PowerPlay despite losing Jake Fraser-McGurk for a two-ball duck in the first over.

Scoreboard

DELHI CAPITALS

Jake Fraser-McGurk c Naveen b Arshad 0 (2b), Abishek Porel c Pooran b Naveen 58 (33b, 5×4, 4×6), Shai Hope c Rahul b Bishnoi 38 (27b, 3×4, 2×6), Rishabh Pant c Hooda b Naveen 33 (23b, 5×4), Tristan Stubbs (not out) 57 (25b, 3×4, 4×6), Axar Patel (not out) 14 (10b, 2×4); Extras (w-8): 8; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 208.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-2 (Fraser-McGurk, 0.2 overs), 2-94 (Hope, 8.3), 3-111 (Porel, 11.1), 4-158 (Pant, 16.2).

SUPER GIANTS BOWLING

Arshad 3-0-45-1, Mohsin 4-0-29-0, Yudhvir 2-0-28-0, Naveen 4-0-51-2, Bishnoi 4-0-26-1, Krunal 2-0-20-0, Hooda 1-0-9-0.

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS

Quinton de Kock c Mukesh b Ishant 12 (8b, 2×4), K.L. Rahul c Mukesh b Ishant 5 (3b, 1×4), Marcus Stoinis st. Pant b Axar 5 (7b, 1×4), Deepak Hooda lbw b Ishant 0 (2b), Nicholas Pooran c Axar b Mukesh 61 (27b, 6×4, 4×6), Ayush Badoni (Impact Player in place of Mohsin) c Gulbadin b Stubbs 6 (9b), Krunal Pandya st. Pant b Kuldeep 18 (18b, 2×4), Arshad Khan (not out) 58 (33b, 3×4, 5×6), Yudhvir Singh c Hope b Khaleel 14 (7b, 1×4, 1×6), Ravi Bishnoi run out 2 (2b), Naveen-ul-Haq (not out) 2 (4b); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 189.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-7 (Rahul, 0.5), 2-24 (de Kock, 2.5), 3-24 (Stoinis, 3.1), 4-44 (Hooda, 4.1), 5-71 (Badoni, 7.3), 6-101 (Pooran, 11.1), 7-134 (Krunal, 14.4), 8-167 (Yudhvir, 16.6), 9-183 (Bishnoi, 18.3).

CAPITALS BOWLING

Ishant (Impact Player in place of Porel) 4-0-34-3, Khaleel 2-0-22-1, Axar 1-0-20-1, Mukesh 4-0-33-1, Kuldeep 4-0-33-1, Stubbs 1-0-4-1, Gulbadin 1-0-12-0, Rasikh 3-0-30-0.

Toss: LSG; PoM: Ishant.

Capitals won by 19 runs.

Riyan Parag is expected to get a grand welcome from his home fans when Rajasthan Royals try to ensure a safe passage into the IPL play-offs against the ousted Punjab Kings
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

In keeping with its vision of accelerating socio-economic growth in north-east India through cricket, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) caravan has shifted base to Guwahati for its last two home games in the league stage of the Indian Premier League.

On Wednesday, RR is set to go up against Punjab Kings (PBKS). Although PBKS has already crashed out, RR can seal a Playoff spot with a win at the Barsapara Stadium after three consecutive defeats.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore will fill in for compatriot Jos Buttler in the RR playing eleven, with the England captain having flown out to join his national side ahead of the T20I series against Pakistan and T20 World Cup. PBKS is yet to find replacements for Kagiso Rabada and Liam Livingstone, who have returned home with injuries.

Flat track

A flat bed is expected to be doled out at the venue, which has only two IPL games to show for prior to the upcoming fixture. The track may exhibit a hint of dryness that would be expected to aid bowlers inside the PowerPlay with additional movement.

Although one could be in for yet another run-fest, given the shorter fences and dew factor, much of the contest would hinge on the death bowling, a department in which the Kings have been a cut above the rest. The side has picked 36 wickets between the 16th and 20th over in 2024. The closest rival, Delhi Capitals, is seven short of the said mark. RR has merely accounted for 22.

Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh’s pyrotechnics in the death have on more than one occasion saved PBKS the blushes. The left-arm angle and pace of Nandre Burger should be a good match-up to prematurely stop the deadly right-handed duo before they can get their eye in.

Squads:

Punjab Kings: Sam Curran (c), Matthew Short, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Jos Buttler (wk), Kuldeep Sen, Kunal Singh Rathore, Nandre Burger, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tanush Kotian.

Match starts: 7:30pm IST.