Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans IPL Can Royals rediscover form?

Click here Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans odds
Saturday 9 May,15:00
TV: Sky Sports

Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans IPL team news

Rajasthan Royals' fast start is now a distant memory. They won their first four matches but have struggled for consistency since. It's now four defeats in six.

A loss to Delhi last time was a surprise. It was a heavy beating, too, by seven wickets with 225 on the board. There's been no Shimron Hetmyer in the batting XI and they used only three overseas players. Luhan-Dre Pretorius is an option if they wanted a fourth with the bat although Dasun Shanaka would be more suited to a finisher role.

Possible XI: Jaiswal, Suryavanshi, Jurel, Parag, Ferreira, Dubey (sub Deshpande), Jadeja, Archer, Bishnoi, Brijesh, Burger

Gujarat Titans are the side that is breathing down the Royals' neck. Only net run rate separates them in the table. Momentum is with them and they should be full of confidence after beating Punjab and Bangalore in their last two.

Jason Holder has made a massive impact. He took four against Punjab to restrict them to just 163. They are loading up their bowling with overseas apart from Jos Buttler. There has been no room for death expert Prasidh Krishna.

It seems churlish to point their balance could be better if they sacrificed Kagiso Rabada for Glenn Phillips. With the current set up they have seven genuine bowling options with Washington Sundar classed as an all-rounder.

Possible XI: Sai, Gill, Buttler, Sindhu, Sundar, Tewatia (sub Siraj), Holder, Arshad, Rashid, Rabada, Suthar

Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans IPL pitch report

There have been 11 night matches played at Jaipur in the last three years. the average run rate is a whoppign 10.08. There is a bias batting first to second in terms on run rate, too, with 9.96 versus 10.22 respectively. Not surprisingly, eight of the 11 have been won by the chaser.

Despite Royals' dip they may be considered the more reliable bet to take advantage of a batting-friendly history. They are all-action from top to lower order. Gujarat less so. Royals' cumulative strike rate this season is 163.7 compared to Gt's 146.7. The 5/61.84 that Royals bust 194.5 total match runs with Sportsbook could be a strong option.

Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans IPL match prediction

Royals are short favourites for this win despite the teams' being opposite ends of a momentum spectrum. It does appear they are being priced on what they did at the start of the tournament rather than recent form. Gujarat have now won six from their last eight. There will be some out there who reckon they're the best team in it.

We're less convinced because of the drop off in their batting order. But they are the most potent with the ball in terms of wickets taken and they are second on bowling economy (conceding 9.03).

Gujarat, then, with the toss bias in their favour would represent a fair wager. They are best at the Exchange at 2.166/5. This is unlikely to be cut if the flip goes their way. Titans have enjoyed chasing and with the front three of Sai-Gill-Buttler you can see why.

Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans IPL player bets

Shubman Gill is in the win zone for top Gujarat bat so we fancy a play on him to take honours with Sportsbook's 21/103.10. He has a more than healthy average of 40 against the Royals and in four innings at Jaipur he has whacked 198 runs. if Gill doesn't win here we'll make a not to be on him next time. he is one of the most consistent winners in the market and are happy to bet until he cops.

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