The ninth day of the tournament and we have two teams that have performed pretty well in their matches. KXIP will be playing their third match and RR would be playing in their second match today.
Head to Head
Rajasthan Royals (RCB) have played Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) nineteen times in the past.
When it comes to the matchup of these teams; RR has won ten matches and KXIP nine.
The crucial thing though, is that if we look at their last four encounters, KXIP has won three out of four matches played.
Squads
Top players of RR & KXIP
RR:
S Smith: RR captain is a run machine and he proved that in the first match against CSK. The good thing is that he took adequate rest after facing a concussion injury and because of that he looks perfectly fit to play.
R Uthappa: He didn't perform well in the first match hence he would want to do well this time around. He is amongst the top 10 run-scorers in IPL and has a point to prove to his detractors after being released by KKR in 2020 auction.
J Archer: He was the only bowler in the match against CSK to have an economy rate of fewer than 7 runs per over. He also scored scorching 27 runs off 8 balls towards the end of RR innings. In 2019 edition of IPL, his batting SR was 167.50 & bowling econ of 6.76 was phenomenal. This year he must be even higher on confidence after England's world cup winning campaign.
S Samson: The hero of the previous match is expected to come good again. If S Samson can perform consistently in this IPL he has a chance to compete with R Pant and M Dhoni for the keeper's position in limited-overs cricket for India.
KXIP:
C Gayle: He is one of the leading run-scorers in IPL and was in imperious form last year. He was not picked in the first two matches although there is a chance that he might play in this match.
KL Rahul: He played a magnanimous inning against RCB and if he clicks today as well he can change the course of the match. He failed to perform in the first match against DC but he has scored more than 1200 runs in last two editions of IPL at a 50+ average, he might get going in today’s match.
M Agarwal: The man who almost single-handedly won the match for KXIP would be disappointed to get out early against RCB in the second match after getting a good start. Although, he has a mediocre T20 record if he keeps playing the way he did in the first match could end up making an impact.
M Shami: He is the bowling spearhead of the team & he proved it by his stupendous bowling in the first match and second match. His spell of 15 for 4 in the first match is so far the best bowling performance of the tournament.
S Cottrell: He played his first match of IPL against DC and troubled the batsmen throughout to pick up 2 wickets, he continued his good performance against RCB picking up 2 more wickets for 17 runs. He has a bowling strike rate of 15.6 in T20I’s which is amongst the best when compared to other fast bowlers in world cricket.
Other exciting players
Y Jaiswal: This youngster has a List A average of 70.81 as batsman and 17.60 as a bowler. If nurtured well he could become a very good Leg spinning all-rounder.
Likely Playing 11
RR upset CSK to start their tournament whereas, ideally, KXIP should have one both their matches. These two teams are underdogs for this tournament but the way they have performed so far in the tournament it seems they are good contenders to reach the last 4.