IPL 2019 Live Cricket Score and Latest Update from game between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab: WICKET! Rajpoot will be on a hat-trick here, Gowtham this time lobs one in the air and Shami completes the catch. Juggles the ball a bit but manages to cling on. He departs for 3 and Royals are 164/9 here. PREVIEW: After David Warner returned to the IPL with a half-century against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, it will be Steve Smith's time to return to action when the Rajasthan Royals take on Kings XI Punjab in Jaipur at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Monday (March 25). Beyond that mini talking point, Monday's clash is one between two sides known for inconsistency. Punjab are one of the underachievers in the tournament, having made the final only once. Rajasthan have tapered off after the first season and haven't reached the final since. These are sides that have often taken the lower half of the points table. ipl live However, both Punjab and Rajasthan have never stopped trying. They've tinkered around with their combinations continuously and finally seem to have arrived at squads that could go the distance. There were hints in the last season too. Rajasthan made it to the top four while Punjab finished in the bottom half after a promising start. The biggest reason for that was a poor middle order and lack of depth after Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. Punjab have got the big-hitting Nicholas Pooran for this season and how he goes in the middle order could prove vital to their chances. Their top order will once again be their biggest hope considering the lack of all-rounders apart from Sam Curran; Gayle, Rahul and Mayank Agarwal need to fire if Punjab are to go deep. Punjab's bowling has got plenty of 'mystery' about it with the addition of Varun Chakravarthy to go with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and captain R Ashwin. Their pace unit has Andrew Tye, the highest wicket taker last season, as well as Mohammed Shami and Ankit Rajpoot. Rajasthan's bowling strength lies in their pace. Jofra Archer, Oshane Thomas, Varun Aaron and Jaydev Unadkat are all good options for a ground that's known to assist pace. Shreyas Gopal and Ish Sodhi are underrated but useful legspinners, while K Gowtham did a decent job with his off-spin last year. The batting has plenty of firepower in Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, and now also has solidity in Steve Smith. Captain Ajinkya Rahane too will hope to improve on his strike-rate, which was slightly on the low side last season. PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR Rahane: The Rajasthan captain had a forgettable season last year, struggling to up the ante with his strike-rate. He even had to push himself down the order as Buttler and D'Arcy Short provided quicker starts. Rahane believes he has a chance of making it to the World Cup if he has a good IPL. The other batsmen in the line up - Smith, Stokes and Buttler - could leave early due to international assignments/World Cup preparation, and Rahane's role could prove more vital. Chris Gayle: The universe boss is in stunning hitting form. Ask England. He has already announced his retirement from ODIs after the World Cup, and is perhaps on his last legs in T20 cricket too. Irrespective of what his future is, his form is key to Punjab's chances. No batsman has more IPL centuries than Gayle, and a few more this season will boost Punjab. TEAM NEWS/AVAILABILITY UPDATES Punjab: David Miller will miss the game as he's in South Africa featuring in the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Nicholas Pooran could make his IPL debut. Andrew Tye is yet to join the squad. Varun missed the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently due to a shoulder injury and might not be available to play immediately. Rajasthan: Steve Smith had an elbow injury recently, but seems to have recovered completely. He has been training with the Rajasthan squad over the last one week and should be available from the first game. PROBABLE XI Rajasthan: Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi/Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni/Varun Aaron. Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair/Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, R Ashwin, Sam Curran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami. FULL SQUADS Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane(capt), Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Prashant Chopra, Manan Vohra, Aryaman Birla, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Mahipal Lomror, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Sudhesan Midhun. Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin(capt), Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Simran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Moises Henriques, Varun Chakravarthy, Sam Curran, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar.<doc-sep>Rajasthan Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bowl against Kings XI Punjab in their first match of the Indian Premier League in Jaipur on Monday. Teams: Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (Capt), Chris Gayle, K L Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sam Curran, Mohammad Shami, Ankit Rajpoot. Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (Capt), Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni. (If you are viewing this on The Hindu app, click this link to view the scorecard in your browser) Cricket is in the air in this ancient, royal city. The men in pink greet you from the billboards inside the airport. At the hotel lobby there is a replica of the cricket pitch — with stumps, bat and ball — right next to an idol of Ganesha, the god of auspicious beginnings. Some 10 minutes away is Sawai Mansingh Stadium, where host Rajasthan Royals will be looking forward to begin its campaign on a winning note in the 12th edition of the IPL as it takes on Kings XI Punjab on Monday. Ajinkya Rahane’s men will be hoping history continues to favour them — they have never lost to the Kings at this venue. And they lead 10-7 head-to-head. Smith in focus The Royals had made it to the playoffs last year, and are looking even stronger now, with the return of Steve Smith — who will be in focus after missing out last season following the ball-tampering controversy — and the addition of fellow-Australian Ashton Turner. Neither of them will be available for the entire league though, because of national duty. Read the full preview Gayle factor worries Rajasthan Royals As Rajasthan Royals (RR) are set to take on Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, they consider Chris Gayle as a dangerous player and hope to devise new strategies on ground, depending on the play of the rival team. “Rajasthan Royals is not going to take the Kings XI lightly. Gayle is a dangerous player. Also, it’s not only about him, but the 11 players who represent the team. We are not going to take them or any of their players lightly,” Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya Rahane said. While the RR worries about the Gayle factor, Punjab is banking on the Caribbean’s experience. Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin said: “The team is happy to have the Gayle’s experience in dressing room. Last year, he was quite focussed and the team performance was also good. As Gayle is getting old, his energy is getting higher. It’s great for the team. “He is the player who loves interacting with young team and shares his experiences with them. This time again, we are looking for more strong partnerships here.” Ashwin said there are other exciting players too. “We have balanced team and are hoping it to be an interesting match,” he said.<doc-sep>Live Cricket Score, RR vs KXIP, IPL 2019: Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs for their first-ever win in Jaipur. Chris Gayle struck a belligerent half-century to guide Kings XI Punjab to a challenging 184 for four in their opening Indian Premier League match. In reply, Royals were cruising towards the target before Jos Buttler (69) was out in a controversial manner. They lost too many wickets too soon after and could reach only 170/9 in their 20 overs. Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab (RR vs KXIP): Scorecard Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and continued the trend of bowling first in this IPL so far. RR vs KXIP: The story of the match in pictures Here's how it is happening in Jaipur- Live Updates<doc-sep>
The Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab will begin their campaign today as they are all set to lock horns at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. The visitors have not been able to beat the Royals in the last five outings that they have had in Jaipur. Kings XI Punjab will surely look forward to changing the record. In IPL 2018, both teams had won their home fixture with KL Rahul becoming the star of the match in both ties. In the home game, KL scored an unbeaten knock of 84 runs and the team won the game by 6 wickets. RR vs KXIP, IPL 2019, Jaipur Weather & Pitch Report: Here's How the Weather Will Behave for Indian Premier League 12's Match Between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. Whereas, in Jaipur, the KXIP opening batsman made 95 not out but could not take the team to the finishing line. So, Kings XI, Punjab will definitely rely on KL especially because they will miss the services of David Miller who is away for national duty. Whereas, Rajasthan Royals will depend on Jos Buttler also had a great time with the bat as he scored 51 runs in the away game runs and 82 runs which led the team to a 15 run victory in Jaipur. Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab Live Cricket Score The home team hasn’t made too many changes in their squad like KXIP who have many new faces in their team. Steve Smith comes back into the squad and all eyes will be on the Australian who had missed out on the last season of the IPL due to ball-tampering charges. Out of the 17 times that the teams have locked horns with each other, RR has won 10 games and the remaining were won by KXIP. Kings XI Punjab (From): Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul(w), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Andrew Tye, Moises Henriques, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Sam Curran, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Varun Chakravarthy, Murugan Ashwin, Simran Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Ankit Rajpoot, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar. Rajasthan Royals (From): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Steven Smith, Jos Buttler(w), Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ish Sodhi, Varun Aaron, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Sudhesan Midhun, Aryaman Birla, Manan Vohra, Prashant Chopra.