What

Match 43 of VIVO IPL 2018 will see the Rajasthan Royals clash with the Chennai Super Kings.

RR and CSK were among the two teams who had established early momentum. Nine days into the season, both teams had two wins and a loss. CSK have built on that momentum and have parked themselves in the top half of the standings; MS Dhoni’s side has 7 wins from 10 outings, and they will now be eyeing a top-two finish. RR meanwhile haven’t been able to carry forward that early momentum; they’ve won only two of their last 7 matches.

Both teams come into this contest at the back of wins; RR got two points off Kings XI Punjab in their previous match, while CSK defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore before their five-day break. RR have serious issues about their batting, and those concerns need to be immediately addressed. Jos Buttler has scored 200 runs in the last three innings, while the rest of the batsmen have contributed 241 runs for 19 dismissals.

CSK obviously have fewer problems to address, for they have found match-winners regularly. But the two areas they will be tested are in the ground fielding department and running between the wickets. They have several players on the wrong side of 30, and it remains to be seen how agile the players will be in cutting off the additional run and in converting the ones to twos, and twos to threes.

When

11 May 2018, 2000Hrs (IST)

Where

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Impact Batsmen

Jos Buttler is Rajasthan Royals’ in-form batsman; after disappointing returns, while batting in the middle order (120 runs in seven innings at a strike-rate of 126.31), the Englishman has absolutely smashed it at the top of the innings. In three innings as opener, Buttler has made scores of 67, 51 and 82 – the runs being scored at an overall strike-rate of 162.60.

RR will also need runs from their captain Ajinkya Rahane, who has gone off the boil in recent times. Sanju Samson is the one other Royals player who has been in form; RR need the talented 23-year old to kick on and convert his starts to big match-winning scores.

CSK have an in-form batting line-up. Shane Watson will have fond memories of this attack, having already scored a hundred against RR earlier this season. Ambati Rayudu has consistently been in the top five of the run-scorers charts; the 32-year old has impressed in his new role as opener, so much that the aggregate of his 423 runs and the manner he has amassed them has earned him a recall to the Indian ODI team. And then, there is MS Dhoni, who is perhaps batting the best he has in the IPL. The CSK captain is finishing off games yet again; in his last three innings, Dhoni has made unbeaten scores of 51 (22 balls), 43 (25 balls) and 31 (23 balls).

Impact Bowlers

The two RR bowlers who have consistently threatened and looked like taking wickets are Jofra Archer and K Gowtham. Despite coming into the XI only a couple of weeks into the tournament, Archer has picked up 9 wickets and become the team’s leading wicket-taker; the 23-year old has impressed with his pace, and this match against CSK – who boast of an experienced and in-form batting line-up – could be his sternest test yet. Gowtham has bowled intelligently, particularly in the powerplay, where his economy rate is a very acceptable 6.56.

Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and possibly Imran Tahir (who could come in for David Willey) will have a huge role to play in this match – given the big boundaries in Jaipur. CSK could also be boosted by the recovery of Deepak Chahar, who was impressive in the early stages of the tournament.

Team Head to Head

Overall: Matches – 18, Rajasthan Royals won – 6, Chennai Super Kings won – 12

When these two teams met in Pune earlier this season, Shane Watson scored 106 and powered CSK to 204-5, who then bowled out RR for 140.

Trivia

Rajasthan Royals have the poorest runs per wicket this season; they’ve lost a total of 71 wickets, averaging 21.96 runs per dismissal. Chennai Super Kings are at the other end of the spectrum; they’ve got the highest runs per wicket – 36.90.

Rajasthan Royals’ spinners have been the most economical this season; their spinners have conceded runs at the 7.30 – the best in the tournament.

The average opening partnership in VIVO IPL 2018 matches against Rajasthan Royals is 11.70; RR have allowed their opponents to stitch together an opening partnership of more than 24 only once in ten matches.

Some of K Gowtham’s scalps this season: Brendon McCullum, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales and Chris Gayle.

What Next

For Rajasthan Royals: Away fixture Vs. Mumbai Indians, May 13.

For Chennai Super Kings: Home fixture Vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad, May 13.