The Rajasthan Royals clash with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in match 33 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Let's analyse.
The SWOT for RR
Strengths: The foreign recruits are among the best around. Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and Jofra Archer are must-haves in the eleven. David Miller could be tried out in rotation to give one of the other batsmen a break. RR's batting is strong but they've come good only in patches.
Weaknesses: The scores of Steve Smith and Sanju Samson have fallen after the first few matches. Smith has made some silly mistakes and Samson has not been able to occupy the crease to serve the needs of the team. Robin Uthappa still looks very rusty. Buttler hasn't been able to stack up the string of scores required for the team's success.
Opportunities: RCB were just beaten by the Kings XI Punjab, so there's an opportunity for RR to turn their season around with a victory.
Threats: RR's play-off hopes fade with each match. They need to win at least five of their remaining six matches to give themselves a good chance of making it through.
The SWOT for RCB
Strengths: The RCB batting line-up is in the top tier. Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli as the top four can rattle any bowling attack.
Weaknesses: RCB made some tactical blunders in the last match. When RCB are put under pressure, they can be coaxed into making mistakes. Their bowling issues are not completely sorted.
Opportunities: Chris Morris has turned out to be an all-round asset. He has already got five wickets. And his recent 25 from 8 balls was crucial for RCB to reach a respectable total on a slowing pitch.
Threats: RCB will want to get their winning momentum back to keep the team morale high.
Head to head:
Matches played: 22
Rajasthan Royals: 10
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 9
No result: 3
Last five matches (most recent first):
Rajasthan Royals: L-W-L-L-L
Royal Challengers Bangalore: L-W-W-L-W
What happened in the reverse fixture?
Fifties from Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli helped RCB cruise to an eight-wicket win. Yuzvendra Chahal got the player of the match with three wickets.
Ground conditions
There will be hazy sunshine in the afternoon. The temperature will be around 36 degrees Celsius and the humidity will be about 26%.
Deccan Herald’s Dream XI
Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kartik Tyagi
Team news
No injuries reported from either team.
Impact player for RR
Jofra Archer: His brute pace made a difference in the last match and will continue to make an impact throughout the tournament. He needs to expose RCB’s middle-order early. He can also strike a few lusty blows with the bat lower down the order.
Impact player for RCB
AB de Villiers: Moving him to bat at no. 6 did not work against KXIP. De Villiers can be very important on slow pitches but he needs to spend time in the middle. He should always bat at his preferred No. 4.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network. Viewers can also catch the action online on Disney+Hotstar. The match begins at 3.30 PM IST.
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