Dubai: Steve Smith-led Rajasthan Royals opted to bat first after winning the toss against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 33rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.
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Match 33. Rajasthan Royals win the toss and elect to bat https://t.co/pwdzOLDgiO #RRvRCB #Dream11IPL #IPL2020
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 17, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Match 33. Rajasthan Royals win the toss and elect to bat https://t.co/pwdzOLDgiO #RRvRCB #Dream11IPL #IPL2020
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 17, 2020Match 33. Rajasthan Royals win the toss and elect to bat https://t.co/pwdzOLDgiO #RRvRCB #Dream11IPL #IPL2020
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 17, 2020
After winning the toss, RR skipper Steven Smith said, "We are batting. Day game, better to bat first. Same team for us. We have got a good mix with Stokes back, we did a lot of things right in the last game. The wickets are slowing up, one reason for batting first."
At the toss, Virat Kohli said, "This pitch looks a lot better, the surface looks a lot better than what we had in Sharjah. We would have batted first as well. Couple of changes for us - Mann is back for us, he replaces Siraj. Dube misses out, Shahbaz Ahmed gets his first game today. That helps us get the balance back. We have learnt from our losses, that shows the character in the team. It's been a hectic schedule this week, it's all about executing our plans."
Meanwhile, the Virat Kohli-led outfit remains static at the third spot in the standings despite enduring an eight-wicket loss against KXIP on Thursday. Kohli & Co need to tighten their seat belts as the league is now heading towards its business end.
On the other hand, the Steve Smith-led RR boasts of a strong batting line-up. However, Smith, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler have failed to keep the momentum going. Samson and Smith were clinical in their two outings earlier in Sharjah but a venue change also saw a dip in their form.
The last time these two sides squared-off in this season, Kohli and Co. came out victorious as they hammered RR by eight wickets in Abu Dhabi.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Steven Smith(c), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi
