What

The first return fixture of Pepsi IPL 2015 will see table-toppers Rajasthan Royals compete against Kings XI Punjab.

In their previous match, RR handed the Chennai Super Kings an 8-wicket drubbing, thereby establishing a clear four point lead at the top of the standings. RR were forced to change their combination in the previous match to make room for their regular captain Shane Watson. But it didn’t seem to affect the side as every individual played his role to perfection; RR restricted a formidable CSK lineup to 156 before Watson announced himself in the competition in his very first outing scoring 73 from 47 balls, and in the company of Ajinkya Rahane set the platform for the run-chase. RR are not blessed with too many match-winners of international repute and it is therefore important that the team makes the best use of the resources available, and that was another aspect that was impressive about RR in the previous match.

Kings XI Punjab have one win from four outings. Runner-up in Pepsi IPL 2014, KXIP are yet to find their best combination, despite fielding eight international cricketers in the XI. They’ve had to leave out Manan Vohra, who was a consistent run-getter last season, to make room for Murali Vijay. David Miller was forced to warm the bench in the previous match after scores of 23, 24 & 5. They have been competitive in patches, but will need to start dominating the match for the entire duration of 40 overs to start piling on the wins.

When

21 April 2015, 8p.m. IST

Where

Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad

The Protagonists

Ajinkya Rahane has been in sublime form so far this season. The 26-year old started the tournament with a blob, but has since been batting like a dream. His scores in the last four matches read 47, 46, 62 and 76 not out. He is, not surprisingly, the Orange Cap holder at the moment. Together with Rahane, captain Shane Watson and Steve Smith form a very formidable looking top three and the responsibility lies on the trio to get the bulk of the runs.

George Bailey is the only KXIP player to score a half-century this season. The KXIP skipper has scored a half-century twice this season and is the team’s top run-getter despite batting in the middle-order. He will be keen to carry his form forward, but will be happier if Virender Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell – who have together contributed 155 runs from eight innings - can do the bulk of the damage. On the bowling front, young Sandeep Sharma has been very impressive, always providing his team with early strikes. The KXIP skipper has utilised the four overs of the 21-year old in the first ten overs, and the young lad has responded well, picking up a total of seven wickets while only conceding runs at an economy rate of 5.37.

Contests to look-forward to

The contest between Australian batsman Shane Watson and Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz during the recently concluded World Cup made for gripping viewing. The Pakistan speedster bowled pacy deliveries, generated steep bounce, dished out plenty of short deliveries and troubled the Australian batsman in one of the best spells of play during the tournament. The world has taken notice of Watson’s weakness against the short-pitched deliveries. If there is one other bowler in the world who can recreate that effect, it is Mitchell Johnson. Will the KXIP captain-bowler combo of George Bailey and Mitchell Johnson use that ploy against the RR skipper?

The contest between RR’s Pravin Tambe and KXIP’s Glenn Maxwell promises to be interesting too. There is a thing between leg-spinners and Maxwell, and Tambe will be keen to exploit on the psychological edge bowlers of his tribe have on the Australian batsman.

Previous Meetings

A look back at the previous contests between the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab indicates that the former have a huge psychological edge, having emerged triumphant in 9 of the 14 meetings.

When these teams met last season, KXIP prevailed in both contests. In the first meeting in Sharjah, RR were blown away by Glenn Maxwell and David Miller, with both batsmen posting half-centuries. In the second meeting – played in Mohali, Shaun Marsh and Axar Patel starred with bat and ball respectively to lead KXIP to a 16-run victory.

Most recently, when the two teams met in Pune on day three of Pepsi IPL 2015, James Faulkner single-handedly powered RR to a 26-run win. The Australian first scored 46 from 33 balls batting at seven and then took three wickets – including that of the dangerous Glenn Maxwell, to take home the Man of the Match award.

Trivia

KXIP’s Glenn Maxwell has so far managed 61 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 152.50. Those numbers are in stark contrast to last season when he had scored 294 runs at a strike-rate of 205.59 in his first four outings.

Off the 19 IPL matches he has bowled in, KXIP’s Sandeep Sharma has gone wicket-less on only three occasions. Further, 16 of Sandeep Sharma’s 13 wickets are of opening batsmen.

Before this season, 6 of the 8 IPL matches played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad were won by the team batting first. However, both the matches this season have been won by the team chasing. RR chased down 165 against Mumbai Indians first and then got 157 in their run-chase against CSK.

Pravin Tambe seems to have this habit of picking up the big fish in the opposition lineup. Among his 21 IPL wickets are the scalps of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, David Warner, Eoin Morgan, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Yusuf Pathan, among others.

What Next

The Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad will host a game for the last time in Pepsi IPL 2015 when the Rajasthan Royals next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 24. KXIP meanwhile head to Chennai on April 25 to clash with the Chennai Super Kings.