Ahmedabad, May 27: Rajasthan Royals will go head to head with Royal Challengers Banagalore in the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 on Friday (May 27) with both the teams eyeing a berth in the IPL final.
The winners will face Gujarat Titans in the title clash on Sunday (May 29) at 8 PM IST.
So, we are here giving you the details such as pitch report, toss update, playing 11 news, pre-match comments etc from the RR vs RCB match.
Toss: RR won the toss, opted to bowl
Playing 11
Rajasthan Royals (Unchanged): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (wk / captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Unchanged): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj.
Pitch report
Matthew Hayden to Star Sports: “The boundary pockets are a little bit bigger. There are no cracks, got great even covering of grass and I expect batting is gonna be really good. Average score here for winning is 175.”
Pre-match Comments
Sanju Samson, RR Captain: “We will bowl first. The wicket is a bit sticky and hopefully it will help our bowlers first-up. Yesterday we had a good practice session. Everyone is happy and excited for the game. Emotionally everyone is connected to the team and the franchise. Important to keep calm and cut off the noise, trust yourself and just another game of cricket. No changes for us.”
Faf du Plesiss, RCB Captain: "We were actually looking to bat first, it looks a good pitch and we believe runs on the board in a big game will count in our favour. Guys had a good rest yesterday, but today everyone has turned up really fresh and pumped up for the game. Tonight we are playing a very strong team and it is all about doing the right things. It's an amazing ground, incredible to play in front of so many people. We are playing the same team."
Josh Hazlewood, RCB bowler: “The feeling has been good in the group. The feeling is we have some momentum from the last two games despite them being spaced out. It has started to turn out in our way a little. I just stick to my role. All the 11 players stick to their roles we have a good chance of winning this game. Don't just get swept away.
“I think everyone is a little different as to what works for them. Got hit for a couple of sixes. Then focused on my strengths. It is a bit of a positive as we are not stuck in one city due to the bubble. Our batting has come along well. Any of the 11 can be match winners. Patidar has been unbelievable. He takes the game on. He gets us on the front foot going into the last 10.”