Rajasthan, Bangalore clash in chase of maiden win

Bangalore’s embarrassing defeat to Hyderabad took the wind out of their sails and it remains to be seen whether they can bounce back after a string of huge defeats.

With both teams having inflicted terrible losses in their opening three matches, Rajasthan and Bangalore square off in Match 14 of the Indian T20 League at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday in a bid to revive their campaigns. (WATCH: Warner-Bairstow show helps Hyderabad demolish Bangalore)

Rajasthan, who have been the better of the two sides, have failed to lay the finishing touches specially after having the upper hand early on. In their last game against Chennai, the inaugural champions had Chennai reeling at 27/3 before captain MS Dhoni bailed his side out of trouble with a masterful 75 off 46.

Rajasthan’s overseas players –Steve Smith and Ben Stokes – have failed to live up to expectations. The former Australian captain on his return has scored just 28 and 20 in the last three matches (he did not get to bat against Hyderabad). Stokes, on the other hand, has been a tad bit better with four wickets and 68 runs, but the final blows were missing. (ALSO READ: One of our worst losses ever: Virat Kohli)

Bangalore have severe issues to address and it begins with their opening combination. The Virat Kohli-led outfit changed their opening duo in all three matches. Kohli and Parthiv Patel walked out in the first match against Chennai, while in the remaining two Patel had Moeen Ali and Shimron Hetmyer for company respectively. (WATCH: Bravo hands Chennai hat-trick of wins in last-over thriller)

Bangalore’s embarrassing defeat to Hyderabad literally took the wind out of their sails and it remains to be seen whether they can bounce back after a string of huge defeats.

What: Match 14, Indian T20 League

When: April 2 (Tuesday)

Where: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Time: 8 pm

On TV: Star Network (in India)

Weather: Sunny with a maximum high of 38 degrees Celsius

You can also follow LIVE coverage of the match on CricketCountry (Rajasthan vs Bangalore: SCORECARD)

Teams

Rajasthan

1/54, 1/26 and 0/44 have been Jaydev Unadkat’s recent figures in Rajasthan’s last three matches. The left-arm pacer, who was smashed for four sixes in the final over against Chennai, has been completely wayward and looks set to face the axe in Jaipur. Rajasthan can go ahead with Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron, who picked 25 wickets in seven first-class matches this Ranji Trophy 2018-19 season including two five-wicket hauls. Steve Smith and Ben Stokes will have to break the shackles in the death overs.

Probable XI: 1. Ajinkya Rahane, 2. Jos Buttler, 3. Sanju Samson, 4. Rahul Tripathi, 5. Steve Smith, 6. Ben Stokes, 7. Krishnappa Gowtham, 8. Jofra Archer, 9. Shreyas Gopal, 10. Varun Aaron, 11. Dhawal Kulkarni

Bangalore

Kohli and Co. will have to think on a set opening combination as they need runs at the top. Bangalore can opt to go ahead with the captain opening the innings with Shimron Hetmyer. Although the West Indies batsman has been off colour, Kohli’s presence at the crease can be vital for the southpaw to fire in what is a make or break match for the visitors. Moeen Ali can enter at No. 3, while AB de Villiers can follow next. It does make Bangalore a very heavy batting order, but they don’t have any option time around. Parthiv Patel can occupy the middle order. On the bowling front, Bangalore has not been disciplined. With the debutant Prayas Ray Barman going for truckloads of runs, the youngster is set to make way for probably a Washington Sundar, who can bat.

Probable XI: 1. Virat Kohli, 2. Shimron Hetmyer, 3. Moeen Ali, 4. AB de Villiers, 5. Parthiv Patel, 6. Shivam Dube, 7. Colin de Grandhomme, 8. Washington Sundar, 9. Mohammad Siraj, 10. Umesh Yadav, 11. Yuzvendra Chahal

Head-to-head records

Played: 19

Rajasthan wins: 9

Bangalore wins: 8

No result: 2

Quotes

“The pitch will be nice in Jaipur against the Royals. We need to bring our A-game, like we did against Mumbai and play with that kind of intensity. If we go through the motions, we need to do the regular basic stuff, and get results our way and start winning games in the tournament. The next game should be that game for us.” Virat Kohli

“As a batting unit we need to take the responsibility for this. We win as a team and we lose as a team. If we win the smaller moments in T20s we will do well. We have played well in the last three games and hopefully with some luck we’ll be able to turn it around.” Ajinkya Rahane

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