Jaipur: Openers Phil Salt and Virat Kohli will have a fierce showdown on Express Pacer Jofra Archer’s Thunderbolts in the way Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challenger Bengaluru hopes to win in Sunday’s IPL.
When the RCB landed to the Delhi capital with six wickets, RR was blown away by the Gujarat Titans 58.
RCB won three wins in five games, placed in the first half of the game in fourth place, while RR had fewer wins and was in trouble in seventh place.
After mastering the most expensive spell in IPL history on opening night, British pacemaker Archer managed to turn it around.
England Speedster ruthlessly bowled over 144 kph, hit the batsman and knocked it down.
He broke the stump of facial batsman Shryas Iyer with 148.6 kph Thunderbolt, defining a 3/25 spell against the Punjab Kings game.
He had a maximum speed of 152.3 kph against the Gujarat Titans earlier this week and sent Captain Shubman Gill at 147.7 kph.
By Saturday, Archer will be responsible for the acquisition of Kohli’s crucial scalp (186 runs) and England teammate Salt (143 runs), a pairing that can make the game take away in the big game.
Archer’s revival is the Royals’ arm, and the rest of the bowling offenses except Sandeep Sharma have been struggling to control the scoring rate, which RCB hitters hope to take advantage of.
Despite two and a half centuries, Kohli has blown the cold and cold this season. But with explosive salts that can take off from No. 1, the former Indian captain’s luxury exhibits controlled aggressiveness. He will focus on the consistency of the bats.
After the poor returns, Devdutt Padikkal will also be eager to achieve high results.
The RCB will also lean on the well-touched Captain Rajat Patidar, while Tim David and Liam Livingstone maintain strong Terminators in the middle and lower levels.
Bangalore’s outfit is still looking for its first IPL champion, with a strong bowling attack in Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but the Spin Bowlers need to be more consistent.
On the other hand, royals will hope to hit the ball after the GT collapsed, when they were hit 159.
They have firepower, topped with Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana, and an explosive duo of Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer, waiting for the order.
Head-to-head record
The two teams competed against each other in 32 matches, with RCB having a slight advantage and an additional victory. RR won 14 times, while RCB won 15 times. Three games were drawn.
However, Jaipur’s statistics have brought slight psychological benefits to Rajasthan as the home team has a 5-4 record against tourists.
Probability of winning:
Jaipur’s surface is very balanced, which benefits both batting and bowling. The field averaged first inning score of 161.5.
Team (from):
Royal Challenger Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (C), Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Tim David Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Romario Shepherd, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (w), Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashok Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
The competition begins at 3.30 pm.
