Welcome to Sportstar‘s LIVE coverage of IPL 2021, Match 43 between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is Santadeep Dey bringing you all the action as it unfolds at the Dubai International Stadium.

LIVE COMMENTARY

RR 56/0 in 6 overs: Siraj’s cutters continue to come into play as his first four deliveries go for singles. It is a very good over from the India international. Time for the first strategic break of the day.

RR 52/0 in 5 overs: Harshal replaces Maxwell and starts off with a brilliant yorker. The very next delivery, however, sees Lewis go for a free swing of the bat. Sliced over third man as the Trinidadian continues to score for fun. My, oh, my! Lewis clobbers one straight down the ground now. WOW.

RR 39/0 in 4 overs: Dispatched! Lewis doesn’t want to be left alone. Garton has been welcomed back into the attack from the opposite end with a monstrous six. And another boundary! Garton takes the pace off and a thick edge off Lewis’ blade goes past short third. We aren’t done yet… Lewis goes big. Goes huge. Goes all the way into the stands.

RR 21/0 in 3 overs: Yashasvi clears his front foot and goes long. Sorry, make that massive – 96m! Timed again… Rocks back and slaps this through deep backward point this time. Four more. Maxwell isn’t happy.

RR 8/0 in 2 overs: Siraj will be sharing the new ball. Yashasvi continues to be surprised by the added pace and bounce that the track has to offer. However, he breaks free to cream a drive through cover off the last delivery.

RR 3/0 in 1 over: Lewis gets off the mark with a double. Garton is getting the new ball to swing a bit. Woah! Lewis gets lucky early on as an audacious pull towards the longer side of the boundary lands just short of Padikkal.

Umpires Anil Dandekar and K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan are making their way out into the middle. They will be followed by the boys in red led by Kohli.

Yashasvi and Lewis to open for RR. Debutant Garton to get things started for RCB. Let’s play!

PLAYING XI

Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (w/c), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Kartik Tyagi, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (w), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, George Garton, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

– 07:02 PM: Virat Kohli wins the TOSS and asks Rajasthan to bat.

WHAT THEY SAID

Sanju Samson, RR skipper: The wicket is nice. People who have batted first here have won the game as well. As a team we were a bit down. Had a long chat yesterday. Karthik Tyagi comes in, in place of Jaydev Unadkat.

Virat Kohli, RCB captain: I feel the pitch remained good in the last game. If you get off to a decent start, you can get runs consistently. Feel as a batting unit, we’re doing a good job and want to continue that. Want to provide our bowlers with the conditions… this is a new track. I feel like I’m hitting the ball the best I have in a while. We have one change. Kyle Jamieson misses out. Garton makes his IPL debut. Exciting left-arm pacer, good with the bat and a gun fielder.

– 06:57 PM: Looks like someone is being handed a cap by Glenn Maxwell… Left-arm medium pacer George Garton of England is all set to play his debut IPL game.

– 06:55 PM: PITCH REPORT – “The pitch is a lot different. It is a new surface and we will be having the first game here. The boundaries on the offside for a left-hander will be shorter. It is a high quality track with lots of grass of even structure. It is hard as well. Among all of the venues, this pitch has held together the best. Pretty good for batting,” reckon Anjum Chopra and Matthew Hayden.

Virat Kohli, captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, bats ahead of the IPL 2021 match against Rajasthan Royals.   –  Sportzpics for IPL

MATCH PREVIEW

Fresh from an impressive 54-run win over Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore will take the field against Rajasthan Royals at Dubai today with confidence.

RCB snapped a two-match losing streak in fine fashion on Sunday, stunning a strong MI with authority. Skipper Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell notched up fifties, before Harshal Patel’s hat-trick sealed the match in RCB’s favour.

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Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal played his part, picking up three crucial wickets.

RR, on the other hand, has lost two straight matches. The most recent setback came on Monday, when the side went down to Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets.

Skipper Sanju Samson has been on fire with the bat, but has lacked support from teammates. RR has been badly affected by the withdrawal of England star Jos Buttler, who pulled out of the second leg citing bubble fatigue.

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RR’s two other English match-winners — Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes — are also unavailable.

The next few matches will be vital for RR, as it is stuck on eight points alongside three other mid-table teams. Some winning momentum will help to break free from the pack and make a bid to qualify for the playoff rounds.

RCB (12 points) is in a more comfortable position, with six wins in 10 matches.

– Ashwin Achal

PREDICTED XI

Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c/wk), David Miller, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Paddikal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Dan Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj

Captains Virat Kohli (R) and Sanju Samson during the toss at RR’s away fixture in IPL 2021.   –  Sportzpics for IPL

RR vs RCB DREAM 11 FANTASY TEAM

Wicketkeeper: Sanju Samson (RR), KS Bharat (RCB)

Batters: AB de Villiers (RCB), Virat Kohli (RCB) – captain, Mahipal Lomror (RR), Devdutt Padikkal (RCB)

All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell (RCB) – vice captain

Bowlers: Harshal Patel (RCB), Mustafizur Rahman (RR), Tabraiz Shamsi (RR), Mohammed Siraj (RCB)

RR 4/7 | RCB 7/7 | Credits left: 0.0

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS

RCB just manages to pip RR in the overall H2H numbers, with an 11:10 win ratio.

STARS FROM LAST SEASON (IPL 2020):