It’s Battle Royal’ in match nine of IPL 2020 as Rajasthan Royals face Kings XI Punjab at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on Sunday, September 27. Both teams are coming into this game with big wins under their belt. While Rajasthan beat Chennai, Punjab had the better of Bangalore. We bring you the match preview from the game between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.
With Sharjah being the venue for this match, another high-scoring encounter is on the cards on Sunday night. Its Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals on Sunday night.
Kings XI Punjab has bounced back in style after they were rather unfortunate to lose against Delhi Capitals in the Super Over in game 1. The Punjab camp has some serious positive vibes at the moment. KL Rahul led his team brilliantly against RCB. First, he took the responsibility with the bat at the top of the order, scoring an unbeaten century.
Chennai aim to return to winning ways
Later on, when the turn came to defend the score, he rotated his bowlers well as they did the job for him. In this game, Rahul has another chance to repeat his performance. He will fancy himself getting another big score against Rajasthan Royals on Sharjah which is a small ground compared to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Their bowlers too, led by Mohammed Shami did a good job against RCB and would look to follow up in the Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals contest.
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This will be Rajasthan’s second game in Sharjah and thence they will have a better understanding of the conditions as compared to their opponents. Sanju Samson and Steve Smith got some important runs with the bat and would look to keep the form going.
Jofra Archer’s all-round performance is something that keeps the team in good stead. The team is still without their star overseas player Ben Stokes who is set to join them in the first week of October.
Their spin attack is well rounded too by young leg spinners Rahul Tewatia and Shreyas Gopal. It was their spell that help the Royals rest control of the game in their favour against CSK.
Both teams are thus well-organised and seemed to have the perfect team combination heading into the second game. However, this being a long tournament with a handful of matches we can expect sides to experiment with the side early on in the tournament.
Also Read: Sanju Samson Resembles a Lot Like Rohit Sharma, Says Sachin Tendulkar
Head to Head: Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals
So far both these teams have played 19 games and the battle is pretty even between the sides. The Royals have won 10, while the Kings have won 9. In the last five matches between the two sides, Punjab has won four games.
Weather And Pitch Conditions: Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals
Having played in three different venues, the players have got a very good idea of the conditions, especially the weather. Sharjah being the smallest ground among the three, saw 33 sixes being hit in the first game. Captain winning the toss, will be inclined to bowl first despite how the matches have panned out.
With all the talk about dew becoming a factor in the game and captains opting to chase to negate the impact of due, six matches out of the first seven have been won by the team batting first.
Team News
Jos Buttler is available for selection for the Royals after his mandatory quarantine is over. Ben Stokes is reported to join the Royals in the first week of October. Meanwhile, KL Rahul is thinking to get back Universe Boss Chris Gayle in the mix
Squads
Kings XI Punjab
KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Jordan, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, Ishan Porel, James Neesham, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Tajinder Dhillon.
Rajasthan Royals
Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Anuj Rawat, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Robin Uthappa, Tom Curran, Yashasvi Jaiswal