Smarting from four consecutive losses, Rajasthan Royals will look to arrest the slide and cement their top-two finish when they host table-toppers Kolkata Kight Riders (KKR) in this season’s final league match on Sunday evening.
However, with rain threat looming over the contest, it could be a dampner for the Guwahati crowd, enthusiastically waiting for the marquee clash. With 16 points and a playoff spot already secured, the Royals have been struggling lately, failing to cross the 150-run mark in their previous two games.
In the absence of their star England opener Jos Buttler, who headed back home for national duty, the onus will be on the top three batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal, skipper Sanju Samson, and local talent Riyan Parag – to step up and deliver if they wish to end their losing streak and secure a top-two finish, which would give them two chances to reach the final.
In their previous outing against the Punjab Kings, Parag stood tall among the Royals batters, scoring a patient 48 that helped them limp to 144, and Samson & Co will look to adapt to the conditions where the ball seemed to hold up against KKR’s in-form pace unit.
Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma have formed a lethal combo with the new ball for the Royals, with the experienced duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal more than capable of making inroads in the middle overs.
KKR, on the other hand, with 19 points, have already guaranteed themselves the top spot in the table after a washout against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
However, since their victory against Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens on May 11, KKR haven’t been in action due to the washout in Ahmedabad and as such the Royals would be keen to take advantage of their lack of match practice.
KKR have also lost their in-form opener Phil Salt, their second-highest run-getter this season, as he returned home for the series against Pakistan in preparation for the T20 World Cup next month.
Salt and Sunil Narine have formed a formidable opening partnership for the Knights, with a combined 897 runs with seven fifties and one century between them, each at a strike rate of over 182. Their top form has been crucial to KKR’s journey to their first playoffs since 2021.
In Salt’s absence, Afghanistan keeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz is expected to partner Narine, and it will be a bonus if the new pair can continue their magic upfront. However, in case the duo fails, the responsibility will be on the likes of skipper Shreyas Iyer and the finishing duo of Rinku Singh and Andre Russell.
On the bowling front, KKR will expect the likes of Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora, along with the spin duo of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to restrict the dominant RR batting lineup.