🏏IPL 2024: Match 65 - RR vs PBKS at Guwahati,7:30PM IST🏏

🏏IPL 2024: Match 65 - RR vs PBKS at Guwahati,7:30PM IST🏏

Logo Credit: WildestDreams

Rajasthan Royals after looking like a near-perfect team in the first part of the IPL season has tapered off in the last three games. 

While the result on Tuesday between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals ensured that Rajasthan are in the playoffs, they would like to finish in the top two to get the extra chance as well.

As per Punjab Kings, it has been the same tale as most years. They are out of the playoff race it is all about playing for their pride giving opportunities to youngsters and looking for the future. 

Shashank Singh and Ashutosh have been shining a light for them in a season in which they have been inconsistent performances.

With Jos Buttler unavailable for the final part of the season the onus is on Yashasvi Jaiswal to take responsibility at the top and make sure not only provide a blistering start but also play innings of substance. His season so far has been a mixed bag and if RR has to lift the trophy they need the left-hander firing up at the top.

PBKS Skipper Sam Curran had an ordinary season compared to his standards. The responsibility of leadership might have affected his season however, his delivering with the ball and chipping in with a cameo will help Punjab to get two points.

For the eliminated Punjab Kings, playing a match that will have no bearing on their qualification must feel like a bad habit, for it's been a decade since they have made it to the PlayOffs. 

No other team has had to wait longer. But it is what it is and all they would want from this match is an encore from last year, when they beat RR at this very venue by five runs. 

Fortunately, they boast of wins in their last three away fixtures - Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Chennai - and a lot of this game will be how much "away" they can make this for RR.

[Tag Credit: Sutapasima]

RR vs PBKS head-to-head stats:

Matches played: 27 RR Won: 16 PBKS won: 11. Since 2020, RR have won 6 of the 8 matches between the sides.

Pitch Report

This is the first game of the tournament at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Since the wicket is fresh it might help the seamers early on in the game. Hence captain winning the toss might opt to bowl first and take advantage of the conditons. In addition to that dew might be a factor in the second innings.

What to expect: Guwahati, with its shiny black-soil pitches, has been a high-scoring venue lately despite 70-meter square boundaries, with the average first-inning total in the last four T20 matches here being a shade over 213. Parag expects much of the same this time around too, with dew playing a crucial part in his opinion. The effects of it were on show in the last T20I played at this venue, when India's 222/3 wasn't enough against Australia and Glenn Maxwell.

RR vs PBKS Weather Report:The maximum temperature on Wednesday is 36 degree centigrade and minimum at night is 25 degrees. It is going to be a hot and humid day according to Accuweather.

Team Watch:

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Qualification scenario: A win against PBKS will confirm RR's playoffs berth but they might end up taking the field as a qualified side if Delhi Capitals beat Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday.

Injuries/Availability: Jos Buttler has flown back home to prepare for the T20I series against Pakistan, as was indicated by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) while announcing the provisional T20 World Cup squad. RR have been practicing with Tom Kohler-Cadmore as the "back-up" for Buttler, Parag said on the eve of the match, and the Somerset wicketkeeper-batter is likely to make his IPL debut and partner Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order.

Tactics & Matchups: Led by Yuzvendra Chahal's resurgence, RR's spinners started the season in full force but have tailed off since then. Compared to the first six games, their average has nearly doubled and the economy-rate has gone up by almost two-and-a-half points despite Ravichandran Ashwin picking five wickets in the last two matches and it's an area RR would like to get back to their best at.

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal [Impact Player: Nandre Burger/Rovman Powell]

PUNJAB KINGS

Injuries/Availability: Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada have returned home to tend to niggles before the upcoming T20 World Cup, assistant coach Brad Haddin confirmed on the eve of the game, but the likes of Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow have traveled to Guwahati and are expected to turn up against RR. Shashank Singh, who collided with Faf du Plessis in the last game and endured a sore shoulder, is fit again and likely to play.

Tactics & Matchups: Like RR, the PBKS would want an amped-up performance from their spinners. They played a crucial role in victories at Chepauk and Mullanpur and have been amongst the more economical spin attacks this season but have struggled to dent oppositions regularly in the middle overs.

Probable XI: Jonny Bairstow(w), Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Vidhwath Kaverappa [Impact player: Harpreet Brar/Nathan Ellis]

There's no direct flight from Jaipur to Guwahati. The fastest you can get from one city to the other is 4 hours and 15 minutes. On first glance, traveling far east to play a "home" game might make little sense for Rajasthan Royals but when Riyan Parag was addressing the media on the eve of the game and speaking about his familiarity with the conditions to a packed room, it felt like a home game and then some.

Of course, much of the RR squad don't have first-hand knowledge of the venue but the Barsapara Cricket Stadium has pulled all the stops to make them feel at home. The giant hoardings, the underlit roof canopies, the dancing LEDs on the supporting pillars and the table mats are all pink and in perfect agreement with the colour that RR have made their own but yet, there must remain a sense that the team would be playing some 2000 kilometers away from their traditional home.

This feeling, though, of being so near yet so far is not unfamiliar to RR this season. They looked primed to seal a spot in the PlayOffs when they went on to lose three on the trot. They remain the favourites, mind you, to become the second team to qualify even before they take the field (more on that below), notwithstanding how they have been guilty of sweating the last mile. But as Parag said, the defeats haven't meant that his side has "done everything wrong" in those games. Perhaps a change of venue then, with its promise of high scores after Chennai, couldn't have come at a better time.

Did you know?

No batter from PBKS has topped the 400-run chart in either this edition or the last. Shashank Singh, with 352 runs, is their leading run-getter of the season and he is 19th on the overall list.

The last T20I match at this venue saw Ruturaj Gaikwad and Glenn Maxwell score scintillating hundreds

Who said what

"All of the talks about India games, all of the talks about me representing North East, me representing Assam etc etc, that's good. I am from here, I am the only player who's playing right now [and] who's probably having a great season till now but as soon as I go in [to bat] I don't think about that. I am here to play good cricket and that's what I will do." - Riyan Parag

RR desperate for a win

IPL 2024, RR vs PBKS IPL Live Score, Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings: RR are desperate for a win. Their qualification is not on the line but a top-two finish is. They would not want to go into their last league match with the pressure of needing to win in order get two shots at the final. Sanju Samson would want to finish off the job by beating the Punjab Kings today.

Who Will Win?

Irrespective of the form, it clearly seems to be a Rajasthan Royals win against Punjab Kings, as the Sanju Samson side haveall of their bases covered, and are a feared side on their day. On the other hand, Punjab Kings have terribly failed to dominate or terrorise their opponents and do lack the consistenecy, which RR have showed throughtout the season. 

Rajasthan are on a 3-match losing streak and do need to win their remaining fixtured to ensure a Top 2 finish, as this will enable the side to qualify for Qualifier 1, which will be against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, the match is being held at Guwahati and the boundaries are too short, plus, the surface is heavenly to bat first upon.

Riyan Parag is from Assam and is well-versed with the pitch and conditions, which will come in handy for RR against PBKS. Also, the pitch is expected to get slower in the latter half of the match and Chahal and Ashwin can form a lethal conbo and restrict the PBKS side.

RR vs PBKS Probable Best Performers of the Match

Probable Best Batter:

Sanju Samson: He could be the best batter in the upcoming game against Punjab. With 389 runs in his last 10 matches, Samson has been one of Royals’ highest run-getters in the IPL 2024, and his knock could be crucial for the side in the upcoming clash.

Probable Best Bowler: Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel: He could be the best bowler in the upcoming game against Rajasthan Royals. With 17 wickets in his last 10 matches, Harshal Patel has been in exceptional form and is one of the best-performing bowlers of the tournament. His showing against Rajasthan Royals could be crucial.