Depleted Royals have no margin for error as Sunrisers come calling
It's a must-win game for Steven Smith's men, while the stakes are slightly lower for the visitors, who are comparatively better-placed on the table,
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In the news
Previous meeting
Likely XIs
Strategy punt
- Sunrisers are likely to have more comfort in batting at Sawai Mansingh Stadium than the home team - their batsmen have scored more non-boundary runs (47.6%) than any other team and will play at the venue that has had nearly just as many (47%) non-boundary runs. Williamson, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar should be encouraged to play to their accumulative strengths.
- While Martin Guptill is available to replace Bairstow at the top with Warner, Sunrisers will be well served if they let Williamson return to form in the position where he's had most success for them.
- Royals could be tempted to build their house on legspin: Ish Sodhi and Liam Livingstone will both offer that option, and with Riyan Parag now playing a primarily batting role, Shreyas Gopal might find a buddy at the other end as he could be handed more late-overs duties than before.
Stats that matter
- The last time Royals beat Sunrisers was in 2015. Sunrisers have a 4-0 win record since that game.
- Ajinkya Rahane needs 53 more runs to reach 5,000 in T20s.
- Rashid Khan is two wickets away from 50 wickets for Sunrisers.
- Royals' 74.5% catching efficiency is marginally better than Sunrisers' 73.1%, but their ground fielding has saved a net six runs through this season, as compared to Sunrisers' negative 15.
Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo