Rajasthan and Gujarat square off in a top-of-the-table clash

Call it a gladiatorial battle if you want but going by the points table, two stalwarts will lock horns in a rollicking contest at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium as Gujarat Titans take on the mighty Rajasthan Royals on a tasty Thursday night encounter.

The Royals will be coming to this contest on the back of a thrilling win against the Lucknow SuperGiants as they prevailed in the end in a modest-scoring encounter with Yuzvendra Chahal eclipsing the others in a show of some turning might.

The Titans had a phenomenal start to their campaign as they won their three opening games. However, their rolling juggernaut smashed against an unexpected roadblock as Sunrisers Hyderabad conjured an excellent batting display to leave them wondering about the beauty of the marathon league.

The Royals have been in exemplary form with the ball in their hands but the last couple of games has seen their batters nosediving into a receding tailspin that needed some late deliverance to salvage their campaign.

The Gujarat Titans have shown perfect chemistry between their players with the right chord of balance that has seen them fare in bedazzling colours. Even in their defeat against the Sunrisers they displayed decency with the bat but the Orange Army seemed just too good during the chase.

This will be a contest of two indomitable mindsets as both teams will be eyeing for the top spot in the points table and defeat is not an acceptable option for anyone of them.

Venue Watch:

The surface will be aiding the batters with some early assistance for the bowling unit as there will be ample bounce and carry for the first 4-5 overs. The average score for the teams batting first is 143 while the team batting second has managed to average 150. This definitely shows that the team chasing will have a slight edge but then again in the last tie between RCB and CSK, we saw how a daunting total in the first innings can be defended.

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals:

Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (R), Yashasvi Jaiswal (R), R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Arunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell

Gujarat Titans:

Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan

Match Details:

Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans

Venue: Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Date: 14th April 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST