Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians will lock horns in the match 36 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Jaipur on Saturday. In the previous meeting between both teams earlier in the competition, it was Rajasthan who came out on top with a four-wicket margin.
The game is an extremely important one for the home side as they have only managed to win two game in eight matches. Therefore, another defeat will nearly finish any chances left of them making it to the next stage. In their previous match, Royals suffered a 12-run defeat against Kings XI Punjab. In the batting department, Rajasthan will be relying on the likes of England's Jos Buttler, captain Ajinkya Rahane and wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of pacers Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Dhawal Kulkarni to provide timely breakthroughs.
On the other hand, the visitors will come in the match high on confidence as they are placed pretty with 12 points in just nine games and a win will nearly secure their place in the final-four. In their previous match, Mumbai registered an impressive 40-run win against Delhi Capitals. In the batting department, the team will be relying on the likes of captain Rohit Sharma, South Africa's Quinton de Kock, West Indies' Kieron Pollard and India's Hardik Pandya to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on
Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians will lock horns in the match 36 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Jaipur on Saturday. In the previous meeting between both teams earlier in the competition, it was Rajasthan who came out on top with a four-wicket margin.
The game is an extremely important one for the home side as they have only managed to win two game in eight matches. Therefore, another defeat will nearly finish any chances left of them making it to the next stage. In their previous match, Royals suffered a 12-run defeat against Kings XI Punjab. In the batting department, Rajasthan will be relying on the likes of England's Jos Buttler, captain Ajinkya Rahane and wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of pacers Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Dhawal Kulkarni to provide timely breakthroughs.
On the other hand, the visitors will come in the match high on confidence as they are placed pretty with 12 points in just nine games and a win will nearly secure their place in the final-four. In their previous match, Mumbai registered an impressive 40-run win against Delhi Capitals. In the batting department, the team will be relying on the likes of captain Rohit Sharma, South Africa's Quinton de Kock, West Indies' Kieron Pollard and India's Hardik Pandya to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of Jasprit Bumhah, Lasith Malinga and Rahul Chahar to provide timely breakthroughs.
Pitch Conditions: Pitch in Jaipur is a good one for batting but in the later stages of the tournament, it supports spinners more than pacers.
Player Recommendations:
Jos Buttler (Batsman)
First in the list of key players features Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler. The England international is in great form with the bat in hand as he is the leading run-scorer for the franchise in the ongoing competition with 311 runs at an average of 38.87. In the previous match between both teams, Buttler played a match-winning innings of 89 off 43 balls with the help of eight fours and seven sixes. Therefore, the team management will be hoping for much of the same from their star opener.
Quinton de Kock (Wicketkeeper)
Second in the list of key players features Mumbai Indians' Quinton de Kock. The South Africa international is having an amazing time with the bat in hand as he is the leading run-scorer for Mumbai in this year's IPL with 313 runs at an average of 34.77. Therefore, Rajasthan team management will have to find a way to remove the 26-year-old if they are to produce a positive result on Saturday.
Hardik Pandya (All-rounder)
Third in the list of key players features Mumbai Indians' Hardik Pandya. The 25-year-old is having an amazing time in the tournament where with the bat in hand he has scored 218 runs at an average of 43.60 and with an strike-rate of 194.64, whereas with the ball in hand, the India international has eight wickets to his name in nine matches. Those numbers suggest why Pandya is so important for Mumbai and the team management will be hoping for another stellar performance from the star all-rounder on Saturday.
Jofra Archer (Bowler)
Last in the list of key players features Rajasthan Royals' Jofra Archer. The right-arm pacer is having a great time with the ball in hand as he has 10 wickets to his name at an average of 21 and strike-rate of 18.6. Those numbers become even more impressive if they are combined with an economy-rate of just 6.77. Against such a strong batting lineup, Archer will surely have more responsibility to lead from the front and produce the goods for the franchise.
Pick for uncapped player: Rahul Chahar
Predicted Playing XI:
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Ben Stokes, Ashton Turner, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga
