Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2018
Image Courtesy: BCCI

What a terrific match we have in store when the visitors Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will lock horns with hosts Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 53rd match of the competition on Saturday (May 19) afternoon.

For both teams, it will be a must-win encounter. Bangalore has more chance of qualifying through to the playoffs if they went on to win this particular contest. However, for Rajasthan, the task is a bit tougher. They will look to beat Bangalore by a big margin in order to boost their Net Run-Rate.

Both teams have peaked at the business end of the tournament. Despite losing their previous encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royals have won three of their last four matches which eventually helped them make a comeback in the competition.

However, the success story was largely built around a certain individual who won’t be part of the Rajasthan’s squad in this particular game and not even in the playoffs if they do qualify.

The man in the spotlight is none other than Jos Buttler, who has scored more than 50% of the team’s runs in the last few matches. The wicketkeeper-batsman was in a sensational form especially after being elevated as an opener. He equaled the record for most consecutive fifties in Indian Premier League (IPL) with Virender Sehwag.

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However Buttler along with Ben Stokes have already flown back to England owing to prior national commitments.

Rajasthan might well end up playing only three foreigners in the absence of the two stalwarts. The wicket-keeping duty will be taken up by Heinrich Klassen.

To be precise, the balance looks unstable due to the absence of two big match players. Rajasthan will definitely miss both of them but they have to look forward. There is no option available for Rajasthan.

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Credits: BCCI

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However, on the other hand, Bangalore has played some quality cricket in the last three matches. They defeated Sunrises Hyderabad (SRH) in a run-scoring fest a couple of days back. They have staged an exceptional comeback and a victory will take them very close to the playoffs berth. But, they need other results to go in their favour.

The form of AB de Villiers will be a huge positive for Bangalore. Along with Moeen Ali, the duo set up a brilliant partnership which helped them post a mammoth total of 218 against Hyderabad.

Unfortunately, their bowling department has been pathetic at times and has leaked runs in crunch situations. Virat Kohli’s form will be another bonus for Bangalore. They will surely like to believe that a win will surely help them to go through the playoffs in one of the most uncertain manners.

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Team Combinations –

Rajasthan Royals:

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2018
Faheem Hussain /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

The strong showing from Ish Sodhi might see him go on to retain his place. The forced changes are quite obvious. Heinrich Klassen will make a comeback at the expense of Jos Buttler. Meanwhile, D’Arcy Short will also be seen at the top of the order despite the southpaw falling short of expectations.

Predicted XI: D’Arcy Short, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klassen, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni/Anureet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

The Bangalore outfit is unlikely to tinker with their winning combination. They have finally got their combination right as told by Virat Kohli in the presentation ceremony during the previous match.

The inclusion of Moeen Ali has lent the ideal balance. He will surely look to continue his good form with both bat and the ball. On the other hand, de Villiers will be keen on continuing with his rich vein of form with the bat and also his acrobatics on the field.

Predicted XI: Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Mandeep Singh, Sarfraz Khan, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Match Prediction:

Rajasthan Royals
Photo by Saikat Das /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

It will be a knockout game for both teams. However, the pressure will be more on Rajasthan as they require to win by a big margin.

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On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore just requires victory and hope that the other results go in their favour. 

If Bangalore win, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) loses to Sunrisers Hyderabad Hyderabad (SRH) in the evening clash, Bangalore will directly go through on the basis of their superior Net Run-rate.

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A Cricket Expert who loves revolving his life around the game. An extremely passionate music lover who loves singing and listening to Arijit Singh songs.