Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals clash with playoffs survival on the line

It is going to be the second round of Battle Royale as Royal Challengers Bangalore steps into the den of the Rajasthan Royals, hoping to make it a double in the group stages of IPL 2023. Currently juxtaposed to each other in terms of points and rankings, RCB holds the sixth spot with 10 points and a net run rate of -0.345. Rajasthan Royals are stationed in the fifth with six wins from 12 games and a tally of 12 points at a net run rate of +0.633.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be coming to this fixture on the back of a defeat against the Mumbai Indians albeit a terrific batting display. However, losing the toss on a surface that had a lot on offer for the batters worked against the Royal Challengers. Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell were on top of their game with the bat while a late charge from Dinesh Karthik helped RCB to 199 before Suryakumar Yadav put on a show to help MI seal bragging rights of the game.

Rajasthan Royals will be arriving to this fixture on the back of a sumptuous win as a boisterous knock from Yashasvi Jaiswal left the Knights wilting under the sheer pressure of their own armour. An inspiring show from Yuzvendra Chahal that saw him bagging a four-fer crippled KKR’s innings halfway. Whatever hopes that the Knights had in their hearts of turning the tide around were dashed by the rising sensation who is now within touching distance of Faf du Plessis as the two are just a run apart in the race to the Orange Cap.

A win for the Royal Challengers Bangalore would mean that they would get closer to the play-offs with a match in hand that would ideally be their trump card against the likes of RR and LSG who are a couple of points ahead of the Red and Yellow brigade. A victory for Rajasthan however, can be one result that Faf and company would like to avert at all costs in the tournament.

Venue Watch

Sawai Mansingh Stadium is a track that can provide significant assistance to both the batters and the bowlers. Given the long boundaries and the spinners’ success so far, winning the toss could be a crucial aspect of this game. 

Personal battles to watch out for:

Faf du Plessis vs Yuzvendra Chahal

In a battle of the two stars, the highest run scorer of the tournament, Faf du Plessis will be going up against talented leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who is second in the list of the Purple Cap race. Faf has amassed 576 runs so far in the tournament at an average of 57.60 which also features six half-centuries while Chahal’s haul of 21 wickets will make this a rivalry to savour.

Virat Kohli vs Trent Boult

More than the numbers, this is more of a tactical battle that would see Virat Kohli look to turn around his fortunes from the last time these two teams met. In the previous RR vs RCB fixture, Boult got the better of Kohli for a golden duck. The RCB batting star will want to turn things around and score heavily to take on the RR bowling unit. 

Mohammed Siraj vs Jos Buttler

The last time these two stars met, Siraj went through bat and pad and knocked back Jos Buttler’s stumps to deal an early blow to Rajasthan in Bengaluru. The Englishman also got out cheaply in the last match vs KKR and given Siraj’s wicketless returns from the last two games, he will want to bounce back into form which will make this contest one to watch out for. 

Match detail:

Match: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Venue: Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, Rajasthan

Date: 14th May, 2023

Time: 3:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 28

RR:12

RCB: 14

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals:

Sanju Samson (C & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, KM Asif, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Dhruv Jurel, Sandeep Sharma, Murugan Ashwin, Donavon Ferreira, Kunal Singh Rathore, Abdul Basith, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Obed McCoy, KC Cariappa, Akash Vasisht, Adam Zampa, Joe Root

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Faf Du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Kedar Jadhav, Wayne Parnell, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Michael Bracewell, Vyshak Vijaykumar