Rajasthan Royals will take on Punjab Kings in a critical clash as far as the race for the playoffs is concerned in the 2024 edition of the IPL on Wednesday, May 15. The Royals have hit a rut with three successive defeats recently and would want to snap the losing streak going into the business end of the tournament. The Royals are still very much in contention to seal the remaining top two spot but would have to get back to the winning ways with not many games and time left.
The Royals will be without their key enforcer at the top with the bat, Jos Buttler, who has returned home for international duty. However, the Men in Pink have enough and more options to plug the gap left by his absence. On the other hand, Liam Livingstone has left for the Punjab Kings but the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran will be available for this game and with their chances already being done and dusted, the visitors will be keen on ending a disappointing campaign on a high, especially on a good batting surface at Guwahati's Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati pitch report
This is only the third IPL match in the North-Eastern city of India and in both the games last year, the score went in excess of 190. The wicket will be fresh and expect a high-scoring match. The surface at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium is generally good for batting and it will be no different this time around. After the IPL, the international match at the venue saw Australia chase down 223 against India in November last year.
With the short boundaries and a true batting wicket, the captain winning the toss will be inclined to field first and have the total in front to chase it down. Punjab Kings failed to chase down scores both times in Dharamsala, however, they would fancy chasing again having pulled off a huge one in Kolkata already in the season. The Royals too have been very good chasers and even though they lost a couple of games in Delhi and Hyderabad, they have the power and pedigree to do that.
