RR look to take a step further as LSG aim to seal playoff spot

As the ticker has started working its magic faster than ever and as the play-offs loom closer, the final rounds of preparation have started ringing the bells of doom. As Sunday gears up for an electric encounter between two of the most dominant forces in the ongoing edition of the IPL, Lucknow Super Giants and the Rajasthan Royals will be coming face-to-face in a potential decider for one of the play-off spots.

LSG is currently stationed in the second position of the pecking order and a win will send them through to the play-offs. However, they must deploy a wary approach considering the ignominious slump that they suffered against the Gujarat Titans.

The Royals, on the contrary, will have to win if they would need to keep their position in the points table intact. Of late, Rajasthan hasn’t really succeeded in getting themselves through as smoothly as the team would have wanted with three losses from their last four games. Their latest contest witnessed them going down shambolically against the Delhi Capitals.

This will be an exciting contest between two formidable teams who have been endowed with different skill sets that have so far seen them floating without much hassle. However, this will not just be a battle of the willow and the Kookaburra, it will be a contest of life and death with varying objectives blurring the lines of rivalry.

Venue Watch:

Brabourne has so far been decent enough to the batters with some early drift for the fast bowlers to capitalize on. However, as the game progresses, it would totally be inclined towards the batters with the dew kicking in. The boundaries are pretty short which would signify some wild swinging from the willow-men. The last game at Brabourne witnessed the Punjab Kings piling a 200-plus score, making it a top-notch surface to bat on.

Ideal result for RCB:

A loss for the Royals will keep them on 14 points, equal to RCB's tally heading into their final gameday as well. However, the kicker here is that their net run-rate would be coming down that will make things slightly easier for the Challengers. While the Lucknow Super Giants will seal their playoff spot, this result would leave the final two playoff spots open heading into the final round of league fixtures with teams even more tightly packed on points.

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

Lucknow Super Giants:

KL Rahul (c & wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Evin Lewis, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, Kyle Mayers, Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, Manan Vohra, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Karan Sharma.

Match Details:

Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants

Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Date: 15th May 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST