Rajasthan Royals (RR) will face an uphill task tonight when it faces Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a do or die battle at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, in Pune. This is the eliminator match and a team losing it will be out of the tournament, while the winning team will face CSK in IPL qualifier 2.

IPL 2015 Eliminator: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Both teams have gone through ups and downs in the ongoing IPL 8. However, they have successfully reached into the Play-offs. It’s interesting to know that Rajasthan Royals and RCB are currently being led by star cricketers – Steven Smith and Virat Kohli respectively. Both these players are in good form.

The way RCB made a comeback at the rain affected match against SRH was amazing. Notwithstanding the fact, it was Warner’s error of judgment while grabbing Kohli’s catch outside the boundary rope that cost them the match. If SRH skipper caught Kohli, then IPL play-offs would have been different now. It’s a fait accompli and nothing can be done about it. However, any mistake today will shatter the dream of both teams. Hence, they will have to play spectacular cricket throughout the match.

Winning Mantra

It would not be wrong to say that openers of both teams are amazing. A team fielding first will have to get the openers out too early in the match. As far as RCB is concerned, then picking the wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli is vital. They know how to turn the match. They are capable to hit big shots even in good deliveries. So, Smith & Co. will have to dismiss them at the earliest. Ab De Villiers is another dangerous batsman. His unorthodox batting makes any total achievable. He is a big wicket at any time of the day. Binny, Morris, Faulkner and Watson will have to provide the initial breakthrough and keep the RCB batsmen under control.

RR’s batting is mainly focused around the top three batsman of the side – Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and Shane Watson. They are in good form. Rahane and Watson are among the leading run-scorers of the tournament. A lot will depend on how Mitchell Starc, David Wiese, Varun Aaron and Chahal will prevent these players from playing big shots. They will have to dismiss the top 3 early or else the match would go out of their hands.

Teams for Today’s Match

RCB: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ab De Villiers, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Aaron, Mandeep Singh, David Wiese, Sarfaraz Khan and Harshal Patel.

RR: Steven Smith (Captain), Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Chris Morris, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson (WK), Stuart Binny, Pravin Tambe, Dhawal Kulkarni, Deepak Hooda and Karun Nair.

Tags: Indian Premier League, IPL, IPL 2015, IPL 8, Match Preview, Pepsi IPL, Pune, Rajasthan Royals, RCB, Royal Challengers Bangalore, RR