Rajasthan Royals got most things right on Sunday.
Skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and justified his decision to bat first with a superb 82 not out. The move to promote Riyan Parag paid off, and the bowlers did a good job too, as Royals won by 20 runs to open its IPL campaign on a satisfactory note against L:ucknow Super Giants.
They will look to capitalise on that when they take on Delhi Capitals, which should be keen to recover from its disappointing opening fixture, when the two neighbouring franchises face off on Thursday. Capitals were beaten by Punjab Kings by four wickets, after a not-so-good effort with the bat.
The batter most in focus was, of course, Rishabh Pant, who was returning to cricket after his horrific car accident in December, 2022. He made only 18 and should be eager to play one of his eye-catching knocks.
Capitals, playing their second successive away match, will also want their Australian openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh to convert starts. The bowling — featuring the formidable spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel — is strengthened by the arrival of the South African quick Anrich Nortje. But the Capitals bowlers are up against one of the strongest batting line-ups in the tournament. Apart from Samson, they would be facing the likes of Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel.
There is variety in the Royals attack, in the form of Trent Boult, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Sandeep Sharma.
