IPL 2020 – Match 9 – RR vs KXIP Betting Preview

Match Details
Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Sunday, 27^th September
16:00 SA Time

Preview

The 9^th match of IPL 2020 will witness a clash of two very confident teams as Rajasthan Royals take on Kings XI Punjab at Sharjah. Both teams come into the game after winning their previous matches very convincingly. Hence the clash is expected to be fierce with no team leaving any room for errors.

Rajasthan have had trouble clicking as a team in the past but that didn’t appear to be the case against CSK, as they put on a very impressive all-round performance to register a thumping victory. After being asked to bat first, Steve Smith helped Rajasthan get off to a solid start. He complemented Sanju Samson well, who hit the ball all over the ground on his way to his very spectacular 74 off 32 balls. Their innings ended on a high note as Jofra Archer hit Lungi Ngidi for 4 sixes in the final over and his cameo turned out to be the deciding factor in the result of the match. Rajasthan kept picking up crucial wickets at regular intervals and CSK never looked in a position to win the game, with Rahul Tewatia being their most successful bowler ending with figures of 3 for 37 in his 4 overs. RR will be more than thrilled with the availability of Jos Butler adding to their batting firepower after the Englishman missed out on their opening game due to quarantine rules. All in all, the Rajasthan side looks complete and will look to build on their momentum as they lock horns with Punjab in their second game of the season.

Punjab will be soaring high on confidence after their compelling victory against RCB that saw their captain, KL Rahul take the Bangalore’s bowling by storm. It was raining sixes and an unstoppable Rahul played a marathon innings of 132 off 69 balls and carried his bat throughout Punjab’s innings after being dropped twice in consecutive overs. While it may have been a one-man show when it came to batting, all of Punjab’s bowlers delivered with the ball and young Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin ended with 3 wickets apiece. After a very disappointing result in their game against DC, a match that they should have won, this victory must have felt sweeter than ever with Punjab’s complete dominance over the game. They would like to repeat their heroics against Rajasthan and set the tone for their campaign with another win.

Injury and Availability News

Ben Stokes has not yet joined the RR side in UAE and hence, will be unavailable for selection

Probable Playing XI

Rajasthan Royals

Jos Buttler, Yashashvi Jaiswal /Robin Uthappa, Steve Smith (c), Sanju Samson (wk), David Miller, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Rahul Tewatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron / Ankit Rajpoot.

Kings XI Punjab

KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell.

Key Players to watch out for

Jos Butler: An invaluable addition to the Rajasthan squad in 2018, Butler has scored 859 runs in the 21 matches he has played for the side so far with a staggering strike rate of over 150. He has been the trump card for the Royals and has won a lot of matches single-handedly for the side. Rajasthan will bank on him for some quick runs at the start as he goes for the kill from the very first ball thus making him the key for making optimum use of the powerplay.

Sanju Samson: One of the most consistent IPL performers, Samson proved his worth once again in the game against CSK where he amassed 74 runs at a strike rate of 231.25. He has been in terrific form in the domestic leagues and can be easily relied on to go and make big scores in the middle overs. 

KL Rahul: The young Punjab captain has always led by example and consistently scores at the top order giving his team much needed solid starts. He will come into the game after a record-breaking innings of 132 runs, the highest score by an Indian in the IPL, and thus will look to carry that momentum forward. He holds the key to Punjab’s fortunes and all eyes will be on him to help Punjab register another win.

Value Bets

Rajasthan Royals

Jos Butler to be Rajasthan Royals top batsman at 2.25

Jofra Archer to be Rajasthan Royals top bowler at 2.25

Kings XI Punjab

KL Rahul to be Kings XI Punjab top batsman at 2.00

Mohammed Shami to be Kings XI Punjab top bowler at 2.25

Prediction: Rajasthan Royals to win at 0.83

Related Topicsbetting tipsIPL Betting

BET Contributor