Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are placed 3rd and 7th in the points table respectively. RCB would want to fight back after their loss against KXIP while RR has to win this match to have a chance to be amongst the top 4 towards the end.
Head to Head
The Head to Head between these two teams is slightly in favour of Rajasthan Royals (RR)
In total, they have played 22 matches out of which RR have won 10 matches while KKR have won 9, the rest were abandoned.
In the last five matches played between these two teams, RR has won 3 out of the 5 games, RCB has won one game and one was abandoned.
In their encounter this year, RCB comfortably won by 8 wickets.
Squads
Top Players of RR and RCB
RCB:
V Kohli: After failure with the bat in the first 3 matches, he has been in stupendous form. In the last 5 matches, he has scored 48, 33*, 90*, 43 and 72*. V Kohli returned to form in the first encounter between these two teams. He would want to continue his good form in today's match as well.
AB de Villiers: In the match against KXIP he was sent at number 5 position and a lot of questions were asked about his batting position especially after they lost their match. Overall, he has been their man in RCB's man in form, this year he has scored runs at a strike rate of 179.68 which is his personal best.
A Finch: He hasn't had a good season of IPL so far, he has an average 23.87 and a poor strike rate of 113.69. RCB might consider giving another opener a chance in this match.
Y Chahal: He was hammered for runs against KXIP but that match was played at Sharjah and he can be discounted for it. Overall, he performed pretty well for this team. In the previous match versus RR, he was the man of the match, he picked up 3 wickets and gave away only 24 runs.
D Padikkal: Against KXIP this youngster had a rare failure with the bat. He managed to score only 18 runs against them. It would be interesting to see how he fights back in today's match. In the first leg match versus RR, he had scored 63 runs.
RR:
S Smith: He now has failed to perform in 6 back to back matches and RR desperately needs their skipper to be back amongst the runs. RR lost the previous match versus DC despite having a decent start with the bat.
R Uthappa: He has been a total disappointment so far, so much so that his 32 runs of 27 balls against DC is his best innings so far in this IPL. He might well sit-out again in today's match.
J Archer: He was exceptional versus KXIP in the previous match where he picked three wickets giving away only 18 runs. He is RR's best bowler, he has already picked up 12 wickets for his team. The best thing about Archer is that he has not only picked up wickets but is also extremely economical, his economy rate is 6.56.
S Samson: He showed glimpses of his talent in the previous two matches but hasn't played the way he is capable of. He along with his captain went from extremely in-form players to players who are struggling for form.
J Buttler: Apart from his innings against MI he has been struggling for runs as well, This makes him the 4th batsmen in the list who is struggling for runs, this is the story of RR in this years edition, no wonder they are placed at 7th position in the IPL table.
Likely Playing 11
RR:
Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK), Steven Smith (c), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, R Parag, Rahul Tewatia, J Archer, Shreyas Gopal, J Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi.
RCB:
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (WK), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, I Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Y Chahal
Player to watch out for
C Morris (RCB): He has played 3 matches for RCB and has been exceptional in all these matches. He has picked up 5 wickets at an unbelievable average of 11.60, the economy of 4.83 and a strike rate of 14.40.
R Tewatia (RR): He has played match-winning innings in 2 out of 3 matches that RR have won this year. He is expected to do well for his team today as well.
W Sundar (RCB): RCB has struggled to perform well whenever he has struggled with the ball especially in the power play overs. He was expensive against KXIP and because of that, he has moved to the 4th position in the list of most economical bowlers. Irrespective he remains the bowler to watch for.
B Stokes (RR): The English all-rounder is an extremely important player for the team, and he could play a very crucial role in today's match.
To conclude, this match could be a nail-biter looking at their records against each other.