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.

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.