The fourth match of the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League will take place between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. Rajasthan Royals had made it to the playoff stages in the previous season and they would like to go the way in the season. Jos Buttler was superb in the last season and he had literally dragged the team into the last four on his shoulders. Sportzwiki brings you the Match Preview, Prediction, Predicted XI, Weather, Stats.
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab had a good start in the previous season as they had won the first five matches of the season. However, they had veered off the track in the second half of the season as they could only manage one win in the next seven matches. Thus, they would not like to repeat the same mistakes that they had committed in the previous season.
On the other hand, former Australian skipper Steven Smith is going to be the cynosure of all eyes. However, the talisman batsman will have to miss the first few matches of the season.
Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin had both led with aplomb in the previous season and they would like to continue the good work.
Royals batting will revolve around Ajinkya Rahane and Steven Smith. In fact, the Royals have a bleak bowling line-up. They have added a firepower fast bowler – Oshane Thomas who had impressed when the Windies had toured India.
The Royals have an impressive group of all-rounders as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will like to hit the ground running. Stokes didn’t have an ideal previous season and he would be determined to turn the tables in this season.
On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab will once again rely on their batting and the spin bowling department. KL Rahul and Chris Gayle had done a great job in the last season and they would like to repeat the same performance. Rahul had scored 659 runs in the previous edition and he was the third highest run-getter of the tourney. Furthermore, Gayle had once again shined in the IPL.
However, Punjab could not continue the same impetus throughout the whole season. Furthermore, Mujeeb Ur Rahman had done a great job as the mystery spinner had scalped 14 wickets.
Match Preview.
Rajasthan Royals Predicted Playing XI:
| Players | Role |
| Jos Buttler | Batsman |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Batsman |
| Manan Vohra | Batsman |
| Ben Stokes | All-Rounder |
| Sanju Samson | Batsman |
| Jofra Archer | All-Rounder |
| Shreyas Gopal | Bowler |
| Jaydev Unadkat | Bowler |
| Krishnappa Gowtham | All-Rounder |
| Oshane Thomas | Bowler |
| Dhawal Kulkarni | Bowler |
Kings XI Punjab Predicted Playing XI:
| Players | Role |
| Chris Gayle | Batsman |
| KL Rahul | Batsman |
| Mayank Agarwal | Batsman |
| Moises Henriques | All-Rounder |
| Karun Nair | Batsman |
| Sam Curran | All-Rounder |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | Bowler |
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Bowler |
| Mohammed Shami | Bowler |
| Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler |
| Ankit Rajpoot | Bowler |
Match Prediction: The Rajasthan Royals will like to make the most of the home conditions. Royals have the firepower in their team whereas Kings XI Punjab will also like to draw first blood.
Weather Report: It is going to be a hot evening in Jaipur. The temperature is going to stay in the high 30s and the players could have a tough day in the field.
Stats: Total Matches: 17, Won by RR: 10, Won by KXIP: 7.
Chris Gayle needs another six runs to complete 4000 runs in the IPL folklore. The southpaw needs another eight sixes to complete 300 sixes in IPL
KL Rahul has thus far scored 1384 runs in the IPL. Thus, he needs another 116 runs to get to 1500 runs in the IPL.