Tata IPL has witnessed some nail-biting matches this year, and one of the anticipated clashes between the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will be played today at the Pink City in Jaipur. LSG is disqualified. For the Royals, tonight’s tussle is very important, and after CSK’s loss last night, things have opened up for Riyan Parag’s men.
Rajasthan is currently fifth on the points table with 12 points from 12 games, and it will look to win tonight, keeping the playoff hopes alive. RR started its campaign in some style by winning the first four matches. LSH are at the bottom with 8 points from 12 matches. Since then, it has only had two wins in eight games. In fact, since the start of May, RR has not won a single game. It feels like May has been a big curse for the inaugural champions.
Domination over LSG
Heading into this game, RR will feel under the pump since it is winless in the last three games; however, its record against LSG tells a different story altogether. From the seven games, RR has five wins while LSG has only won twice against them. Having said this, LSG won the last three games at Jaipur, something which RR should improve upon.
Last time the two teams met at Jaipur, RR lost by a thin margin of 2 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal performed for the team with 74 from 52 and also shared an 80 runs partnership with Vaibhav Suryavanshi up top in that game. Tushar Deshpande was brilliant with the ball in that game, and his economy rate was just 6.5 from four overs.
Player stats
Yashasvi Jaiswal dominates the runs chart against LSG with 229 runs and an average of 38.16 in six matches. Jaiswal is the all-time leading scorer, but this season, the fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been a sensation. The young batsman has 486 runs with a strike rate touching 240. Similarly, for LSG, Mitchell Marsh is in his prime with scores of 111 and 90 in the last two matches. The Australian has been an undisputed anchor for the team with 400-plus runs.
RR will have a closer look at the opening batsman because he gave them a taste of their own medicine in the last match with an astounding 55 from 41 balls and was the lone scorer for LSG. Leading wicket-taker for RR is Jofra Archer with 17 wickets this season. Archer has also proven an absolute gold-dust for RR with crucial wickets in the powerplay and Riyan Parag will need the best from him today.
Who will come out on Top?
Jaipur provides another flat deck, which means that it will be a feast for the batting side. This year, the scores have been in excess of 200, and in the Pink City, we should expect yet another high-scoring contest. The team that wins the toss will look to bat first and score at least 230 runs, making it difficult for the chasing team. However, the records tilt the game in favour of RR. LSG cannot be taken for granted as it has won the recent game against CSK.
Probable 11
LSG: Rishabh Pant(c), Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Bodoni, Josh Inglis, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammad Shami, Prince Yadav, Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, M. Siddharth
RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Riyan Parag(c), Jofra Archer, Shubham Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Farrera, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravi Bishnoi
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