In their previous game, Rajasthan went down to Bangalore by four wickets. Batting first they posted 169 as Jos Buttler followed up his 100 with another brilliant knock of 70 not out in 47 balls. It wasn’t enough though as RCB chased down the target despite being 87 for 5 at one stage. Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed sunk RR.
Rajasthan will need runs from Yashasvi Jaiswal. He has just not looked the part. Devdutt Padikkal has got starts, but he needs to convert those. Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer have been in fine form but the bowling was a bit of a letdown. Ravichandran Ashwin, in particular, was disappointing. His poor over turned the match on its head. He will be keen to make amends.
RR predicted XI: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
Quinton de Kock was brilliant for LSG in the previous match. Sunday’s game will possibly see the debut for Marcus Stoinis for the franchise. Krishnappa Gowtham was wonderful with the ball against DC, claiming the wicket that put Lucknow on top. Ravi Bishnoi and Jason Holder were also impressive. LSH will be keen to carry on in the same vein.
LSG predicted XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Andrew Tye, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan
Top fantasy picks for RR vs LSG clash: Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Avesh Khan
--Renin Wilben Albert