Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals IPL Tips: Titans can hit back to book final spot

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Friday 29 May,15:00
TV: Sky Sports

Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals IPL team news

Gujarat Titans produced one of their worst performances of the season in the qualifier against Royal Challengers Bangalore. A normally mean bowling line-up was smashed for 254. A normally reliable top three were all out before the end of the fifth over. From that point it was about trying to avoid humiliation. A 92-run loss was therefore another fail.

There were accusations that Gujarat's bowling has become predictable. They are too reliant on pace and if they got on a track which is not conducive it can get very samey. We have said it before but an extra spin option would not go amiss and Sai Kishore can count himself unlucky that he's not been more involved.

It was a surprise that they used another pacer, Kulwant Khelroliya, as a sub option. The 34-year-old made his first appearance of the season and went for 15 an over. It was a bizarre call. Sacrificing a pacer for another batter has always been a much-needed option but they won't do it.

Possible XI: Sai, Gill, Buttler, Sundar, Nishant, Tewatia (sub Kishore), Holder, Rashid, Rabada, Prasidh, Siraj

Rajasthan Royals saw off Sunrisers thanks to another bonkers knock from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He hit 97 off 29. It was an innings which had looked as though it had ended the eliminator as a competitive contest. But Royals actually disappointed with a total of 243 given the rapid start.

Sunrisers had a decent crack in reply and were a partnership short of getting closer. They eventually went down by 47 runs. Jofra Archer's three wickets made the difference.

Royals did deploy twin spin options in Yash Punja and Ravi Jadeja. They also brought in left-armer Sushant Mishra for only his second game of the season.

Possible XI: Jaiswal (sub Mishra), Sooryavanshi, Jurel, Parag, Ferreira, Shanaka, Jadeja, Archer, Burger, Yash, Brijesh

Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals IPL pitch report

It's probably wise to expect another road. Royals hit 243 at new Chandigarh and that was on trend. Sunrisers hit 219 to lose, Punjab's 254 downed Lucknow and then Royals chased 222 with ease. What we can also be sure of is that with the Royals-SRH the first game there since April 28, there should be no need to have a used wicket.

Gujarat's total runs are available at over 200.5 and Royals at 197.5 at 5/61.84 the pair. We would expect the par line for the team batting first to be higher than the highest of those quotes on Betfair Exchange (probably around 208.5). It is worth remembering that Gujarat are the second-meanest in terms of bowling economy in the tournament and the most potent in terms of strike rate.

Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals IPL match prediction

Gujarat Titans are outsiders at even money with Sportsbook. Yet they are priced up to score more total match runs. Both cannot be true. We suspect the confusion comes from the surprisingly uncompetitive defeat against RCB.

But that result may say more about Bangalore than Gujarat. As we have stated consistently, RCB are the best team in the tournament. It's just that Gujarat have been proven to be further behind than some may have thought.

They are value to hit back here and, on balance, they should really be the jollies to book a return meeting in the final. There is a lot to like about the way Gujarat go about their business.

Bowling nous and efficiency in the field should be prized in a run-laden tournament. In that regard it may be that Titans have got the 'bad day at the office' out of the way. Just return to doing what you did best, chaps, and hit those lines and lengths.

Sooryvanshi will, of course, try to disrupt. But if there is any team which can dismiss him cheaply (he hasn't really hurt them previously) it is surely the best bowling unit. What happens to Royals if the wonderkid goes for a low score? Their middle- to lower-order has been consistently poor and one has to question what they would have done without Sooryavanshi's knock against SRH. The innings fell away badly.

Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals IPL player bets

All eyes on Sooryavanshi, then. How can a 15-year-old be so consistent? It is difficult to fathom, particularly as his role is one which often comes with repeated failures. The normal rules don't seem to apply. With hitters like him it is perfectly fair to reckon that there might be one with his name on or one will go straight up. But it just doesn't happen with the regularity of others.

The argument against him is 'wait until he gets on a green top'. Sure. But where are they in India? They don't exist. He hit 31 and 36 in the head-to-heads and the 11/53.20 that he gets a 50 will be popular because of the limited crease time needed.

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