Rajasthan to face Chennai in do-or-die game
After hat-trick of defeats, Royals beat Kings XI Punjab to keep chances alive
Rajasthan Royals will aim to keep themselves alive in the Indian Premier League when they take on a confident Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium today.
After a hat-trick of defeats, Rajasthan kept themselves afloat in the league when they defeated Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 15 runs in their last game.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led side, placed at the sixth spot in the points table with just eight points in their kitty, will need to come out with their best in a do-or-die game against the yellow brigade.
Skipper Rahane will once again expect his team to get their act together and aim for consistency as they did against Punjab on Sunday.
Rahane and Samson have been average while the inconsistent run of Ben Stokes has affected their performance this season. Stokes, the costliest buy in IPL auction 2018, has miserably failed to perform both with the bat and ball.
Jos Buttler played a 58-ball 82 run knock to lift Rajasthan to 158 for eight against Punjab, a target which their bowlers defended. The English batsman has accumulated 320 runs from ten games averaging 35.55.
Among the bowlers, young seamer Jofra Archer has done well to claim nine wickets from four matches while this IPL’s costliest Indian buy Jaydev Unadkat has also been among the wickets.
Spinner K. Gowtham, who has bagged eight wickets from 10 matches, came out with an impressive performance in the last outing and will need to repeat the show as the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side has struggled against spinners this season.
On the other hand, another win for Chennai will cement their place in the play-offs.