Rajasthan Royals will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a must-win match in Dubai in the 5th doubleheader of this IPL. Steve Smith has struggled to get going in this tournament and is badly in need of a strong performance. Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer of his team but has been a little slow last 2 games. RCB beat RR rather comfortably when these two sides last met by 8 wickets.
RR would have believed they should have won their previous game against DC but some careless cricket from their middle-order meant they fell short of the target by 13 runs. Bowling first, RR was off to a great start with Jofra Archer taking 2 quick wickets and restricting them to just to 161. The batsman was on course to achieve the target thanks to a flyer of start from Stokes and Buttler at the top but a middle-order collapse followed which eventually resulted in a 5th loss for the Royals.
RCB batting first on a slowing Sharjah surface completely got the batting order wrong with De Villiers coming at no.6 and only when there were 4 overs left. To top that Virat Kohli was not able to big hits despite scoring 48 and the RCB was able to reach only 171 thanks to a late flourish by Morris. If the target was more, then RCB bowlers could have given a much stiffer fight and they will treat it as a one-off after doing so well in the lead up to that game.
Batsman – Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, and Virat Kohli.
The RR skipper Smith has something to prove as he is not clearly playing up to his potential and his team desperately needs a big score from him to gain some momentum going forward. Jos Buttler has got starts almost every game but has not played a huge match-winning inning and this could be the game to do so. Virat Kohli has played unlike himself in the last few games as he is not able to score freely despite playing till the end. Aaron Finch has looked the most uncomfortable of the RCB batsman be it against pacers or spinners and has looked at ease in any of his knocks.
All Rounder- Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, and Washington Sundar.
The move to slot Stokes as an opener looks good on paper but from a team perspective, he needs to come at no.5 and this could see him see coming to his best. As a result of Stokes’s promotion up the order, RR’s middle-order is heavily dependent on a young inexperienced Tewatia to finish off games from a near-impossible position on multiple occasions so far and he has played 2 match-winning knocks already so far. Chris Morris’s form with the bat will be a piece of happy news for RCB while he has been highly economical so far. Sundar had a rare off day in this IPL last game and will look to come back stronger.
Bowlers – Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Jofra Archer, and Kartik Tyagi.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini were expensive against the KXIP batsman but the match happened in Sharjah and the RCB didn’t post a match-winning score. They will face challenges against the RR’s experienced overseas stars and it will be a great contest. between the 2 sides. Jofra Archer has been the standout RR bowler in the view and beaten even the best of a batsman with pace. The young seamer Kartik Tyagi has been impressive especially in the death overs but needs to work on his lengths while bowling in Powerplays. These two will be once again be looked to stem the flow of runs in the final overs.
Battles to look forward
- Washington Sundar vs Steve Smith
- Jofra Archer vs Virat Kohli and Ab De Villiers
- Chris Morris and Saini vs Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes
The contest between the opening batsman of RR Stokes and Buttler facing the opening bowlers of RCB Saini and Morris will be mouth-watering, especially if there is searing pace and stoke filled batting on display. Jofra Archer has troubled the best with his pace and accuracy this IPL and rarely has gone for runs. Smith will definitely use him against the RCB’s best Kohli and ABD. We have seen Smith getting out against R Ashwin in the last game and RCB has a similar type of bowler in Sundar.
Head to Head between KXIP and RCB.
- Matches Played: 22
- RCB Won: 9
- RR won: 10
Significant Approaching Milestones.
3 – Virat Kohli needs 3 more maximums to complete 200 IPL career 6’s and De Villiers needs 3 more catches to 100 IPL catches. Check here the list of top six-hitters in IPL.
72- Aaron Finch needs another 72 runs to complete 2000 IPL career runs.
Match conditions
Venue: Dubai International cricket stadium, Dubai.
Date & Timings: October 17, 2020, at 3.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 35 C.
Pitch: Likely to be a slow batting surface.