Royals take on resurgent RCB
Jaipur, May 18: Weakened by the departure of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals will have their task cut out when they lock horns with a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday.
The game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium is crucial for both RR and RCB, placed fifth and sixth in the table respectively. As the race for playoffs heats up, five teams are in with a chance to make the cut. Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad are already through to the playoffs, leaving RR, RCB, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders to fight for the remaining two places.
Both Rajasthan Royals, who saw their batting mainstays Buttler and Stokes leave for national duty, and Royal Challengers Bangalore will also have an eye on the net run rate, which could be decisive if more than one team finish with equal number of points. The momentum for now is with the visitors, whose campaign witnessed a resurgence following a 14- run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad last night.
Virat Kohli and his men have certain flaws to iron out but they have the momentum, confidence and also the resources to prevail over the hosts. The visitors have a formidable batting line- up in Kohli, AB de Viliers, Parthiv Patel, Manjeet Singh and also Moeen Ali, who was drafted into the scheme of things rather late but justified his inclusion with impressive performances, the latest being his 34- ball 65 against SRH.
RCB’s bowlers struggled to contain Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey, who added 135 runs in 65 balls for the third wicket and almost saw the Sunrisers home. The likes of Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee, though, have the pace to trouble most batsmen and the spin department, led by Yuzvendra Chahal, provide variety to their attack.