Rajasthan Royals will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2024 playoffs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
In the IPL playoffs, the Eliminator is played between the sides finishing third and fourth in the points table after their group engagements. With a win in the Eliminator, the Royals can proceed to Qualifier 2, where they will meet the loser of Qualifier 1.
The RR vs RCB Eliminator match on May 22 is scheduled to start at 7.30 PM IST. The IPL 2024 playoffs will be available to watch on live streaming for free in India.
The Royals’ last group game against Kolkata Knight Riders at Guwahati was abandoned due to rain on Sunday.
Meanwhile, RCB won their last match against Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs at Bengaluru on Saturday to qualify for the knockouts.
Riyan Parag is currently the Royals’ top-scorer in IPL 2024 and fourth overall with 531 runs from 12 visits to the crease, including four fifties. He averages 59.00 with a strike rate of 152.58 this year. Skipper Sanju Samson comes next in the Royals’ batting chart this season, having scored 504 runs from 13 innings averaging 56.00 and striking at 156.52.
Yuzvendra Chahal with 17 wickets from 13 matches is the Royals’ top wicket-taker this season whereas Avesh Khan is second on the Royals’ list, with 13 wickets from as many appearances.
Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru standings
Rajasthan Royals finished third in the IPL 2024 standings with 17 points and a net run rate of +0.273. The Royals won eight out of their 14 group matches with the last one getting washed out.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru played 14 games this season, winning and losing seven matches each. RCB finished fourth in the IPL standings with 14 points and an NRR of +0.459.
RR vs RCB form in IPL
Coming into Wednesday’s duel, Rajasthan Royals have not won any of their last five matches in IPL 2024, with their last game getting abandoned whereas the Royal Challengers have won five of their last five games.
Rajasthan Royals last five matches
Opponent | Venue | Result | Match Date | Margin |
KKR | Guwahati | No Result | May 19, 2024 | - |
PBKS | Guwahati | Lost | May 15, 2024 | 5 wickets |
CSK | Chennai | Lost | May 12, 2024 | 5 wickets |
DC | Delhi | Lost | May 7, 2024 | 20 runs |
SRH | Hyderabad | Lost | May 2, 2024 | 1 run |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru last five matches
Opponent | Venue | Result | Match Date | Margin |
CSK | Bengaluru | Won | May 18, 2024 | 27 runs |
DC | Bengaluru | Won | May 12, 2024 | 47 runs |
PBKS | Dharamsala | Won | May 9, 2024 | 60 runs |
GT | Bengaluru | Won | May 4, 2024 | 4 wickets |
GT | Ahmedabad | Won | April 28, 2024 | 9 wickets |
In the RR vs RCB head-to-head, the two teams have played each other 31 times in the IPL with the Royals winning on 13 occasions while the Royal Challengers have been victorious 15 times and three games being abandoned.
In the playoffs, the Royals have met RCB twice with both winning a match apiece, and the Royals winning the latest in IPL 2022 by seven wickets.
In the latest encounter between the two sides in IPL 2024 at Jaipur last month, the Royals beat the Royal Challengers by six wickets.
Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru players
The Royals skipper Samson has racked up 500 runs this year for the first time in his IPL career. This has been by far his best outing in the IPL with respect to total runs scored and average.
He has led the Royals’ batting from the front with five half-centuries, the joint-most in IPL 2024 along with Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar. Samson also has the most runs against the Royal Challengers in the current Royals’ squad with 452 runs from 22 innings with a strike rate of 139.93.
Samson, who is yet to be dismissed by spinners this season, also holds the distinction of getting the most runs against spin bowling in IPL 2024, without getting out. He is comfortable batting first or second, as he averages 66.00 putting a score on the board and 51.00 while chasing down targets.
If the Royals are able to beat RCB in the Eliminator on Wednesday, then Samson will reach 31 wins as captain of Rajasthan Royals, equalling the legendary Shane Warne’s feat.
The Royals bowling unit ranks first in terms of their economy and second in terms of wickets, in the powerplay, as they have conceded only 8.3 runs an over on average, picking up 24 wickets from 13 matches.
Sandeep Sharma has 26 wickets in 18 matches against RCB, the highest wicket-taker in the current team with Ravichandran Ashwin picking up 22 scalps in 28 matches. Sandeep also holds an excellent record against IPL 2024 top-scorer Virat Kohli as he has dismissed him on seven occasions out of the 15 times they have met each other.
Left-arm pacer Trent Boult has picked up eight of his total 12 wickets this season, in the first six overs, with six of them coming in the first over, the most by any bowler in IPL 2024. Boult enjoys bowling against RCB as he has 16 wickets from 12 matches, his best tally in the IPL against a single opponent.
In their only meeting this season against RCB at Jaipur, the Royals registered a six-wicket win as Jos Buttler finished off the match and got to his century in style with a six. Samson also lent support to the chase with a 42-ball 69 that included eight fours and two sixes.
With the ball, Chahal picked up two wickets against his former side as Nandre Burger also chipped in with a wicket.
Rajasthan Royals squad: Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Kunal Singh Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj
Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Saurav Chauhan, Tom Curran, Manoj Bhandage, Suyash Prabhudessai, Akash Deep, Mayank Dagar, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, Rajan Kumar, Himanshu Sharma, Karn Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal
Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru stats
- 31: Sanju Samson is 1 win away from equalling most wins as RR captain
- 50: Ravichandran Ashwin is 3 catches away from 50 catches in IPL
- 50: Riyan Parag needs 1 catch for 50 catches in T20s
- 66: Yuzvendra Chahal is 1 wicket away from being Rajasthan Royals’ highest wicket-taker in IPL
- 100: Tom Kohler-Cadmore needs 1 catch for 100 catches in T20s
- 300: Sanju Samson needs 3 sixes for 300 sixes in T20s
- 1000: Donovan Ferreira needs 59 Runs for 1000 Runs in T20s
- 4000: Sanju Samson is 93 runs away from 4000 runs for RR
- 4500: Sanju Samson needs 108 runs for 4500 runs in IPL
Where to watch Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru live
Live streaming of the Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Eliminator match will be available on the Jio Cinema App and website. The RR vs RCB Eliminator will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network TV channels in India. The match will start at 7.30 PM IST.
RR vs RCB Eliminator venue: Narendra Modi Stadium records
- Highest team total: 233/3 by GT vs MI, 2023
- Lowest team total: 89/10 by GT vs DC, 2024
- Highest individual score: 129 by Shubman Gill, GT vs MI, 2023
- Best bowling figures: 5/10 by Mohit Sharma, GT vs MI, 2023
- Highest partnership: 210 by Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, first wicket, GT vs CSK, 2024
- Win rate batting first: 50% (5 Won; 5 Lost)
- Average first innings score: 191
- Average first innings winning score: 209
