The Rajasthan Royals team is back in its fortress at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur and this time the Chennai Super Kings will be the ones challenging them. The last time these two teams met in DLF IPL 2012, it went right down to the wire with Chennai Super Kings winning of the last delivery. Rajasthan Royals will be looking to avenge their earlier defeat and they are a very tough side to beat at home. The Rajasthan Royals are at the 5th spot in the table with 12 points and Chennai Super Kings are somewhat low with 11 points and are at the 7th place. This match is a crucial one for both the teams because whoever wins tonight will jump up into the top 4 and will be a strong contender to qualify for the play offs.
Rajasthan Royals began the tournament in grand fashion but faded out in the middle. But with the arrival of Shane Watson and the inclusion of Shaun Tait in the side,a new energy has been infused into the team and they have won their last two games quite convincingly. Rahul Dravid has led the team brilliantly and has backed the youngsters to perform. He himself has been in scintillating touch with the bat too with 393 runs so far. He and Ajinkya Rahane have been providing the Royals the start that they need and Rahane has certainly caught the eye of every cricket fan. With Shane Watson and Brad Hodge in the middle order, Rajasthan Royals have got the power in their batting line up to get big scores and Ashok Menaria and Johan Botha have been contributing with the bat too. Shaun Tait is the trump card with the ball for the Rajasthan Royals as he has troubled most of the batsman with his pace and late swing. Watson and Botha have bowled economically and also got important breakthroughs when needed. So, the Rajasthan Royals are a balanced side and difficult to conquer at home
Chennai Super Kings are surely not playing like the defending champions and have lost more games than they have won. They are currently languishing at the 7th spot in the table and need to win 3 out of their remaining 4 games to qualify for the play offs. If they lose tonight, it is going to be a tough journey ahead for the Super Kings as evey match will be a must win game for them. MS Dhoni is missing the Midas touch and has looked far away from his best. Faf du Plessis is the man who has been giving them good starts at the top consistently and has won them games single handedly. Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay have found form in the last couple of games and wold like to make it count. With power hitters like Bravo, Morkel and Dhoni in the middle, no one could count them out as they have got the potential to bounce back strongly. The bowling heavily relies on their spinners Ashwin and Jadeja as the pacers have been going for plenty. Tonighy's game promises to be another cracker of a game and you could watch it live on SET MAX from 8 pm IST onwards.
PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT
RAJASTHAN ROYALS-Dravid, Rahane, Watson, Tait.
SUPER KINGS-Dhoni, Bravo, Raina, Morkel.
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