The Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will be playing against each other for the first time in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013. RR will host Sunday's match to be played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
Overview:
RR have won two of the three matches played so far and have four points on the table. They have shown discipline both in batting and bowling - no wonder they are ahead of other teams for the fair play awards. Rahul Dravid's boys will be keen to win at their home ground on Sunday.
KXIP won their first match against the Pune Warriors India but conceded a 10-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings in the second match. They will be keen to get back to winning ways.
Previous Meetings:
The RR have good record against the KXIP. They defeated KXIP on six occasions out of the nine matches played so far.
Team News:
Rajasthan Royals: Skipper Rahul Dravid is leading from the front, scoring two half centuries from three matches played so far. Ajinkya Rahane is in good form too, and batsmen like Shane Watson, Kushal Janith Perera, Brad Hodge and Stuart Binny are capable of hitting big.
In the bowling department, they have Kevon Cooper, Samuel Badree, Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi, Rahul Shukla, Harmeet Singh and James Faulkner.
Kings XI Punjab: They have good batting line-up in Mandeep Singh, Adam Gilchrist, Manan Vohra, David Hussey and Gurkeerat Singh, but no one has performed big. Contribution of the top order will crucial in Sunday's match.
In bowling department, KXIP have Praveen Kumar, Azhar Mahmood, Piyush Chawla, Parvinder Awana and Ryan Harris. They restricted PWI to 99 runs in the first match but failed to take any wicket in the next match against CSK. They need to take early wickets to restrict RR from scoring at will.
Prediction:
KXIP are a strong team but RR are a more balanced team besides home ground advantage. RR should beat KXIP.
SQUADS:
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Dishant Yagnik, Fidel Edwards, Harmeet Singh, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Kumar Boresha, Kushal Janith Perera, Owais Shah, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Shukla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Baby, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Shreevats Goswami, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Vikramjeet Malik
Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (C), Azhar Mahmood, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, David Hussey, David Miller, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Luke Pomersbach, Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh, Manpreet Gony, Nitin Saini, Parvinder Awana, Paul Valthaty, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Rajagopal Sathish, Ryan Harris, Sandeep Sharma, Shaun Marsh, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
