A Do-Or-Die Battle between Rajasthan and Bangalore

The last round games of the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League is having too much importance as the last two spots for the playoff stages are still open.

Cricket news: Can Rajasthan fight in the last stages or will Bangalore grab their 4th win on the trot

The first of the important last stages match is going be played between Rajasthan and Bangalore. It will definitely be a do-or-die match as the winner will have a better chance to qualify for the playoffs, while the defeated will definitely crash out of the playoff race.

But even the match has begun, it has lost a bit of its shine because of the departure of the England national team players, who will now be playing for their country in the Test match against Pakistan.

Between Rajasthan and Bangalore, comparatively the former will face a big blow to miss their best batsman and lone performer Jos Butler. In addition to that they would also miss their MVP Ben Stokes who was becoming a threat in the recent matches.

The players who have been brought in as a replacement for Butler and Stokes, had already got their chances earlier but have failed to capitalise on them. Bangalore will definitely be getting an upper hand before the match as there winning squad will probably remain unchanged.

RCB is also in a very good position as they have a positive net run rate. But the hosts will not only need a win but also have to win the match with a bigger margin in order to qualify as their current run rate is -0.403, which is far worse compared to other teams.

Venue – Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur

RR Probable XI: D’Arcy Short, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Heinrich Klassen, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni/Anureet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat

RCB Probable XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Mandeep Singh, Sarfraz Khan, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal