Lucknow: High-flying Rajasthan Royals will look to continue their winning momentum and consolidate their position at the top when they take on a resurgent Lucknow Super Giants, who would be gunning for revenge at home in an IPL match here on Saturday.
Former champions RR have looked in ominous form this season with seven wins from eight games, and they could be a tough nut to crack for LSG.
LSG, meanwhile, too have played some good cricket and are placed fourth with five wins from eight games. But going into Saturday's match, RR would certainly be the favourites as they have registered a hat-trick of victories after a rare blip against Gujarat Titans.
Assam batter Riyan Parag has been the flavour of the season for RR in the batting department. The youngster reinvented himself and has been the team's highest scorer with 318 runs from eight games.
The return to form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was struggling a bit this season, has further strengthened RR's batting. While chasing a 180-run target in the last game against Mumbai Indians, Jaiswal smashed an unbeaten 104 off 60 balls to power his side to a comfortable nine-wicket win.
Jaiswal's return to form is something RR's opponents should really be worried about given the devastation the youngster and Jos Buttler can wreak at the top of the order.
RR's batting typically revolves around skipper Sanju Samson, who has scored 314 runs so far, and with West Indian Shimron Hetymer capable of hitting top gear, the 2008 IPL champions have a potent lineup.
The likes of Rovman Powell and Dhruv Jurel, though, need to contribute more. RR also boast of a potent bowling attack comprising the experienced Trent Boult, Avesh Khan and Sandeep Sharma, whose 5 for 18 against Mumbai Indians has really fired up the side.
The team's spin department is also in the safe hands of the experienced duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and R. Ashwin, although the latter has struggled this season. Chahal, however, is RR's best bowler with 13 wickets from eight games.
LSG, on the other hand, would be seeking revenge after having lost the first tie to RR by 20 runs this season. Besides revenge, LSG would look to register a hat-trick of victories aand scale up in the leaderboard. KL Rahul's side is also on a high after two successive win, but the India player knows the shortcomings in the top order.
When Rahul and his opening partner Quinton de Kock are on fire, LSG's batting looks ominous. The problem arises when the opening duo has an off day.
That area was, however, covered by Marcus Stoinis in their last game against Chennai Super Kings, where the Australian scored an unbeaten century.
Despite losing Rahul and de Kock early in the chase of 210/4, Stoinis played one of the best knocks in this IPL, remaining unbeaten on 124 off 63 balls to hand LSG a six-wicket win.
Stoinis' return to form augurs well for LSG middle-order, where the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda need to take up more responsibility.
On the bowling front, LSG would be hoping their pace sensation Mayank Yadav is fit for the RR game after sitting out for a few games due to a lower abdominal strain.
"He is with (assistant coach) Lance Klusener and the rest of the guys in Lucknow, training and getting ready. So I think, anything from the next game onwards, we'll look to bring him back in," LSG bowling coach Morne Morkel had said ahead of their last game against CSK.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj.
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav and Arshin Kulkarni.
Match start time: 7.30 PM (IST).
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