Jaipur, May 8: An upbeat Gujarat Titans will be determined to continue their winning streak and leapfrog a wobbly Rajasthan Royals in their mid-table Indian Premier League clash here on Saturday.
Only the net run rate separates the 2022 edition winners Gujarat Titans (-0.147) from the fourth-placed 2008 champion Rajasthan Royals (0.510) in the points table as the two teams have fared alike so far. Both GT and RR have six wins and four defeats in 10 matches each.
But the Shubman Gill-led side will fancy their chances against the wobbly Royals, who have suffered three defeats in their last five matches. The Titans have racked up three wins on the trot and looking to break into the top four.
Royals captain Riyan Parag struck 90 in RR’s first-innings score of 225 for six but it was not enough against Delhi Capitals who overhauled it with seven wickets and five balls to spare. It was the second such instance in a row when a first-innings total in excess of 220 could not be defended by the Royals.
While Rajasthan Royals are indeed top-heavy with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (404 runs), Yashasvi Jaiswal (312) and even Dhruv Jurel (290) doing the heavy lifting, they will need their skipper to fire big in the lower order, which has only Donovan Ferreira (229) hitting at 150 or above.
Jurel has undoubtedly been a vital cog in the Royals’ batting line-up, but the right-handed batter has been guilty of not accelerating at the top.
In his last three outings, Jurel has scored 42 off 30 balls, 16 off 20 balls, and 42 off 30 balls at No. 3 and these numbers certainly warrant further improvement in a season where no total, batting first, is safe.
While IPL 2026 has been even more severe on the bowlers, the Royals will have to find solutions of their bowling woes, especially in the middle overs.
On their part, the Titans will be pleased at how they are peaking at the right time, Gill (378 runs) has been a consistent run-getter and will be keen on converting his start into a big score, while Sai Sudharsan (385) will also be determined to make the most of his form, having struck two fifties and a hundred in his last four outings.
Jos Buttler’s (335) return to consistency once again makes the Titans extremely dangerous at the top, while they also have finishers with requisite skills to see off tough situations in the lower order.
However, like any top-heavy sides, a collapse piles pressure down the order, and the Titans had failed miserably — bowled out for 100 against Mumbai Indians earlier — when that happened.
Kagiso Rabada (16 wickets) has undoubtedly been the leader of a high-quality pace attack. The Titans will be pleased at how the troika of Rabada, Prasidh Krishna (12) and Mohammed Siraj (11) have been performing.
With 220-plus totals being successfully chased down twice at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here, both the teams would prefer batting second.
