Jaipur: It promises to be a showdown between this edition’s two most impactful batters in young Yashasvi Jaiswal and veteran Faf du Plessis when Rajasthan Royals take on Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are looking to avoid a hat-trick of defeats, in an IPL match here Sunday.
Both Jaiswal and du Plessis are in scintillating form and are the top-two run-getters in the tournament so far.
While du Plessis is leading the scoring charts with 576 runs from 11 innings, including six half centuries and a best of 84, Jaiswal is a close second with 575 runs from 12 knocks that includes four fifties and a 124-run knock.
It remains to be seen who gets the better of the other in Sunday’s high-profile clash.
If both fire on Sunday, it will be a run feat for the spectators.
RCB will also look to avoid a hat-trick of defeats, having suffered losses against Mumbai Indians and laggards Delhi Capitals in their last two games.
The Royals, on the other hand, returned to winning ways with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday after three consecutive defeats, courtesy Jaiswal’s 47-ball 98 and skipper Sanju Samson’s 48 off 29 deliveries while chasing a modest 150-run target.
While Jos Buttler failed against KKR, he remains a big threat alongside Jaiswal at the top of the order for the Royals.
RR’s middle-order too looks pretty strong in the presence of Joe Root, Druv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer.
On the bowling front, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal shone bright against KKR with brilliant figures of 4/25, New Zealand quick Trent Boult has been steady upfront and returned with two wickets in their last match.
Sandeep Sharma has also been providing great support to Boult at the start, while in experienced Ravichandran Ashwin, the Rajasthan franchise has a wily customer who has the ability to turn the match on his own on his day.
RCB, on the other hand, lost their last two games against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians and would be desperate to turn the tables around with a comprehensive win.
While du Plessis has been consistent with the bat throughout the tournament so far, Virat Kohli has sparkled in patches and RCB need both the batters to fire at the top to provide them a good start.
Australian Glenn Maxwell, of late, has shown great form with the bat for RCB but he would be looking for more support from the likes of Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik.
Mohammed Siraj has been the spearhead for RCB in the bowling department and has emerged as the most successful bowler for the team with 15 wickets from 11 games.
But Siraj needs support from the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Vijaykumar Vyshak to contain RR.
The Royals enjoy an advantage on the points table as well as they are placed fourth while RCB are at sixth spot.
Squads:
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Joe Root, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa, Jason Holder, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, Murugan Ashwin, Akash Vashisht and Abdul P A.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Akash Deep, Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Avinash Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Michael Bracewell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Siddarth Kaul, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajan Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma, Sonu Yadav, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kedar Jadhav.
Match starts: 3.30pm.
PTI