IPL2018, RR vs CSK: A must-win game for Rajasthan Royals as they face Chennai in their backyard
The Rajasthan Royals will be hoping to put some consistency into their performances when they host the Chennai Superkings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur today at 8 pm. Being the most unpredictable side this season has cost the Royals heavily with their season being nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. The sixth-placed side will have to step up their game by a notch if they have any chance of defeating the second placed CSK.
FollowChennai Super Kings know that a win would all but guarantee them a spot in the IPL 2018 playoffs while the Rajasthan Royals know that anything less than victory could well be the end of their hopes of making it to the playoffs.
With so much on the line as both teams take on each other at Jaipur, it will be interesting to see if the Royals can carry over their momentum from their win over Kings XI Punjab. CSK is also coming off a five-day break since their win over RCB, and the question of whether they are slightly rusty is also one that will be answered on Friday.
Rajasthan Royals will be playing at home, but they have lost two out of five games here this season. Chennai Super Kings have won 12 out of the 18 matches played against the Royals in the IPL. Chennai Super Kings could be without the services of some of their mainstream players for this match.
RR vs CSK Team NewsÂ
Rajasthan RoyalsÂ
- Mahipal Lomror and Anupreet Singh are the doubtful starters for the fixture.
- RR might not make too many changes after a winning performance in the previous game.
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Chennai Super KingsÂ
- Mark Wood left the squad to prepare for a Pakistan test series and won't be available for the remainder of the IPL 2018.
- The current combination seems to be working correctly for them, and so they are likely to go in with an unchanged line-up.
Rajasthan Royals probable XI:Â 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Stuart Binny, 6 K Gowtham, 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Anureet Singh
Chennai Super Kings Probable XI:Â 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ambati Rayudu, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Dhruv Shorey, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 David Willey, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Shardul Thakur
RR vs CSK Head to Head
Chennai Super Kings have won 12 and lost 6 out of the 18 matches they have played against the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals have managed to beat Chennai Super Kings just once in their previous five head-to-head encounters. CSK got the better of the Royals and recorded a 64-run win when these two teams faced each other in the 17th match of the ongoing season.
Total Matches: 18; Rajasthan Royals Won: 6; Chennai Super Kings Won: 12
Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings Prediction
Heading into this game, Rajasthan Royals will undoubtedly be all charged up as they would be considering this game as a final while Chennai Super Kings would be much more relaxed in their approach. But then again, MS Dhoni will make sure that the Men in Yellow shall have no slip-ups as they would be keen to hold on to their top two spots.
