Fireworks for Royals in the powerplay

Despite not having the big hitting Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, the Rajasthan Royals will fancy themselves to get off to a fast start in their opening match of IPL 13. Although, it isn’t going to be easy for the Royals against the Chennai Super Kings, who will look to take maximum points from their first two games.

Two in Two for CSK?

MS Dhoni’s team got off to the perfect start in this seasons curtain raiser with a five wicket victory over reigning champions the Mumbai Indians and will be keen to continue make it back to back wins. CSK restricted Mumbai to 162-9 with three wickets for Lungi Ngidi and two apiece for Deepak Chahar and Ravi Jadeja. In response, CSK found themselves 6-2 with the experienced opening pair of Murali Vijay and Shane Watson, both falling lbw. But a crucial 115 run partnership between Faf du Plessis (58*) and Ambati Rayudu (71) broke the back of the run chase, before a quick fire 18 from 6 balls for Sam Curran saw CSK home.

Overseas Firepower

For Rajasthan they will be hoping that their explosive overseas batsmen can get them ahead of the game. Former Australian skipper and Royals captain Steve Smith will likely bat at 3 with the flexibility to move around his batting order. Smith missed the ODI series with England with concussion but will be eager to get going again in the shorter form of the game. He will have plenty of overseas players to pick from for his final XI with fellow Aussie AJ Tye, South African David Miller and the English Duo of Tom Curran and Jofra Archer at his disposal. The dynamic all-rounder Ben Stokes is also in the Royals ranks for this year’s competition but it is unlikely be will be available for selection in this one, as he has returned home to New Zealand for personal reasons.

Last season’s woes

The Royals will be desperate to improve on their disappointing campaign last year which saw them pick up just five wins on their way to a 7^th placed finish. It was with the ball where Rajasthan really struggled with only Shreyas Gopal (20) taking more than 11 wickets. They will be hoping that the express pace of Jofra Archer can help them this year and with the paceman coming off the back of a strong summer with England, they have every chance of improving on last year’s feat.

Match Tip

A fast start in the first 6 overs for the Royals is likely with the vast amount of options they have with the bat. And with CSK getting off to a slow start in their opener, Rajasthan seem like the obvious choice.

I am backing the Rajasthan Royals to score more runs in the powerplay than the Chennai Super Kings at 1.95 with Unibet.

Bet Rajasthan Royals to score more in the powerplay on Unibet