Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals IPL Tips: Dress rehearsal for final?

• Titans tough to beat in chase

• Buttler and Gill boosted

• Ashwin no 40/1 chance

Gujirat Titans v Rajasthan Royals
Sunday 16 April, 15:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Team news

Titans are looking strong with Hardik Pandya returned to the side. They are in a stronger position squad-wise after Kane Williamson was ruled out, bringing in the exciting Sai Sudharsan at No 3.

They have power hitting off the bench if required in Vijay Shankar who looks like a man posessed this term.

Probable XI: Gill, Saha, Sudharsan, Hardik, Miller, Tewatia, Rashid, Joseph, Shami, Mohit, Little

Royals, as expected, look a gun outfit. They subbed out Jos Buttler for Adam Zampa in a tight contest against Chennai last time out, a smart move on a turning surface.

The Impact Player rule does make it a 12-a-side game on ocassion and Royals were able to swap an overseas player because they only had three in their line-up. If it's four it must be homegrown.

Probable XI: Buttler, Jaiswal, Samson, Padikkal, Ashwin, Hetmyer, Jurel, Holder, Sen, Sharma, Chahal

Pitch report

Scores of 178 and 204 in first-innings at Ahmedabad (both chased) suggest a road. The average since 2018 pre-tournament was 168. Gujarat's bowling economy so far of 8.7 is a fascinating battle against the Royals hitters who are going like a train at more than nine an over. A high par line of low 180s for Royals batting first feels like a sell.

How to play

Titans are 1.9110/11 with Royals 2.0621/20. That is probably about right for a contest which pits the two best teams against each other. It could well prove to be an early run through for the final.

If there is an edge it could be on the toss. Titans have won 11 of the 12 matches they have chased and it would be folly to bet against them if the flip goes that way in a game where there's little to choose between the teams.

Titans won all three last term, including, of course the final at this venue when they restricted Royals to 130.

Tops value

Jos Buttler and Shubmann Gill will be win-rate wagers at a boosted 12/5 and 11/4 respectively with Sportsbook for many.

However, there's a price which we simply cannot ignore. Ravi Ashwin is not a 40/1 chance. Ashwin, like it or not, has been batting up the order. He has opened once and batted at No 5. He should be about 8/1.