Rajasthan and Punjab square off each other to top the table on Sunday in Indian T20 League 2020.
Match timings: Sep 27, 7:30 PM IST
Team Preview
After a thumping victory against Bangalore, Punjab moved on from the defeat to Delhi and Rahul-led side is back to Sharjah to take on Rajasthan in Sunday’s encounter. Punjab had few bad minutes in the opening match to lose a game from the winning situation but they bounced back hard to humiliate Bangalore in Abu Dhabi. Skipper KL Rahul scored the highest score by an Indian in the league history with smashing unbeaten 132 to take Punjab 206. In the chase, Bangalore looked like a mediocre batting side and lost three wickets at four runs. Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin picked 3-wickets each to secure 97-runs victory. Punjab’s only worrying sign is the poor form of the overseas duo Pooran-Maxwell who had scored in single digit.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan stays in Sharjah to face one more high-scoring task after securing a 16-runs victory over Chennai in their season opener. Rajasthan can relax as their top-order and in-form batsman Jos Butler will be back in the playing XI after completing his quarantine period. Smith’s move to come in the opening slot was a bold move and management will rely on the same thought as Smith-Butler would open for Rajasthan through the season. Jaiswal might be demoted or dropped. Samson was outstanding with his elegant hitting in Chennai’s encounter and Rajsthan would hope to see one more knock from him on Sharjah’s flat track. Rahul Tewatia was pretty impressive and Shreyas Gopal managed to control runs in middle-overs.
Pitch Report
Sharjah’s stadium is a high-scoring ground. The short boundaries and the dew factor can make more trouble for the bowlers. It’s a track where 200 looks possible and the chasing is an ideal call.
Possible XI
Rajasthan
Steven Smith (c), Jos Butler (wk), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Tripathi, Riyan Parag/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat
Punjab
Lokesh Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell
Key Players
Rajasthan
Sanju Samson
Last season – Runs: 342, Avg: 34.20, SR: 148.69
Previous outing: 74 (32)
Jos Butler
Last season – Runs: 311, Avg: 38.87, SR: 151.70
Punjab
KL Rahul
Last season – Runs: 593, Avg: 53.90, SR: 135.38
Previous outing – 21 (19), 132 (69)
Mohammed Shami
Previous outings: 15/3, 14/1
