In-form KKR out to breach Royals' fortress
Royals are on a nine-match winning streak in Jaipur and are on a high after plotting RCB's downfall in Bengaluru
Big picture
In the news
- Royals' mentor Shane Warne has gone home for a short holiday, but the team is in the safe hands of two Indian domestic stalwarts in Amol Muzumdar and Sairaj Bahutule, the batting and spin bowling coach respectively.
- Sussex quick Jofra Archer, who had been sidelined from much of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the start of the IPL with a side strain, batted and bowled on the eve of Royals' game against RCB, but wasn't picked. It remains to be seen if he is fit and available for this clash.
The likely XIs
Stats that matter
- Dinesh Karthik has faced 29 dots from overs 7 to 15 - the most by any batsman this season. He has scored 78 runs off 68 balls in the middle overs at a rate of 6.88 per over.
- In four matches this season, Narine has figures of 7 for 82 from 15 overs, with an economy rate of 5.46, the best in the tournament so far.
- Ben Stokes has a strike-rate of nearly 150 against pace in IPL 2018 but that drops to 57.1 against spin. He has scored only eight runs off 14 balls from spinners.
Strategy punt
Fantasy pick
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo