The Match: This is the 55th game of the Indian Premier League and will see the Rajasthan Royals take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur. This is a home game for the Rajasthan Royals, who have 11 points from 11 games, as compared to Bangalore side who go in with 13 points from 10.
How the two teams match up: The last time these two sides played, it was in Bangalore and the game was rained off. The two sides had shared the points. Unfortunately for the Rajasthan side, they have now lost two in a row and another loss will end their chances of going through to the next round. They need to win this one and hope that some of the other results go their way. The reason why this is an important game for them is that their opponents, Bangalore have 13 points from 10 games and look all set to go through to the next round.
Ground Conditions: This is going to be an interesting one. So far, Shane Warne has described his home ground as a fortress, but in the last game, the side was apparently instructed to make a pitch that was bouncy and had a lot of pace. This annoyed Warne enough for him to raise an issue in the press conference and it seems like the pitch will return back to what it originally was – slow and low.
The Teams: Shane Warne will not look to make any changes to the line-up despite their loss to the Chennai Super Kings. They did not bowl or field well and the captain will hope to instil some discipline in the two departments instead by reaping faith in them.
Shane Watson is due for a big one and he will look to ensure that he can play his aggressive self. On the other hand, Siddharth Trivedi has lost a bit of a control and will look to get it back.
Bangalore will be reliant on the in-form Chris Gayle at the top of the order. He has two centuries in this edition of the IPL and with a strike rate of more than 200, life seems to be very interesting for him. Dilshan needs to find form while Cheteshwar Pujara may not play this game as he injured his knee.
Players to look out for: Virat Kohli for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Johan Botha for Rajasthan.
Prediction: Rajasthan will fight hard to win this one, but Bangalore should be able to overpower them.