IPL 2023 RR vs GT Preview - Both sides fighting to regain momentum

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – Sawai Mansingh Stadium

Average first innings score: 178
Average first innings winning score: 178
Average powerplay score: 48
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 100% / 0%

Team form RR vs GT

RR: LWLLW
GT: LWWWL

Recent meetings: RR won by 3 wickets

Preview RR vs GT

Both of these sides would have felt confident of coming out of their most recent IPL matches with a firm grip on a playoff place but both ultimately suffered surprise defeats.

Rajasthan failed to defend a score of 212 at the Wankhede albeit that their batting was heavily reliant on the brilliance of young Jaiswal who struck 124 from 62 deliveries. Their next highest scorer was extras with 25 that included the Mumbai Indians sending down 16 wides alone! I very much doubt that this Gujrat attack will be quite so charitable.

That's now 3 losses in 4 for last year's beaten finalists and during that period a few of their key batsmen's form has fallen off a cliff.

Batsman	Average	Strike Rate
Buttler	21.3	102.4
Samson	13.8	119.6
Hetmyer	5.3	63.6

Rajasthan Royals key batsmen stats over last 4 matches

Buttler has been unable to time the ball in any of his recent innings, Sanju Samson has reverted to type by coming in, playing a couple of nice looking shots and then getting out, while Shimron Hetmyer who has been such a consistent finisher for the Royals over the last couple of years, barely looks capable of hitting the ball off the square with a strike rate of 63!

Rajasthan have saved some of their best performances this year for their closest rivals with a win earlier this season over Gujarat and 2 victories over CSK in IPL 2023. They desperately need to regain momentum in this match or face the very real possibility of dropping out of the top 4 on Saturday when both RCB and MI play.

Meanwhile, GT will be bitterly disappointed to have let go a position of such dominance against bottom placed Delhi Capitals earlier in the week.

During that game, we saw once again just how brilliant their new ball attack can be. Of the 4 powerplay scores of under 30 this season, Gujarat have been responsible for delivering 3 of them but have now gone onto lose 2 of those games.

Batting Team	Powerplay Score	Bowling Team
RR	26 for 2	GT
DC	28 for 5	GT
MI	29 for 3	RCB
MI	29 for 1	GT

Powerplay scores under 30 in IPL 2023

Credit of course has to go to DC for hanging in the contest and for Rajasthan who also fought back but perhaps the Titans will have to reflect that they have been guilty of compliancy in both cases.

Hardik Pandya seems to cut a pretty relaxed figure as captain and that has worked out exceptionally well for the most part. Now comes a test of leadership and whether he's able to get a response from his team following that laborious run chase on Tuesday night.

Speaking of the difficulty of chasing runs, the Sawai Mansigh Stadium has so far seen 2 wins out of 2 for the sides batting first. CSK, who have arguably the strongest batting line-up in the competition, never got close to the Royals 200+ total in the last game here. Prior to that, Rajasthan batted themselves into what you might except was a good position in pursuit of LSG's 154 but simply couldn't up the tempo with the pitch getting slower as the game progressed.

Win the toss and bat first is almost certainly the order of the day...

RR vs GT head to head

GT bowling vs RR batting

This match should see a great contest between the leading wicket taker during the powerplay in IPL 2023 and the leading run scorer in the same phase.

Shami vs Jaiswal T20 head to head

Mohammed Shami has now surged passed Mohammed Siraj in the wicket taking stakes, with 12 powerplay victims striking at once every 2 overs. Meanwhile, Jaiswal has 227 runs in the powerplay at a strike rate of 167. To put that into context, only 24 batsmen in IPL 2023 have scored more runs across the entirety of the tournament than Jaiswal has managed in the first 6 overs of games, while Shami's PP exploits would put him 10th in the race for the Orange Cap which he of course now holds with 17 wickets to his name.

GT current squad IPL bowling stats at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium

That being said, the Sawai Mansingh hasn't traditionally been a venue where fast bowlers have prospered and the records of the Gujarat bowlers who have played here in the past show that they've lacked the kind of penetration that has been particularly evident at their home ground in Ahmedabad so far this year.

RR bowling vs GT batting

Having highlighted the poor form of a few of the Royals batsmen, it's also fair to say that a couple of the GT players could also do with a score in this match.

Boult vs Saha T20 head to head

Wriddhiman Saha has contributed just 13 runs in his last 3 innings and is yet to pass the 50 mark this season. Of players who have batted exclusively in the top 3 and played 8 or more innings, he is the lowest scorer in this year's IPL with a total of 151 runs at an average of 16.8.

Those deficiencies have so far been masked by the form and power that GT have available to them in the middle order but as we get to the business end of the season, GT's management will know that any chink in their armor, particularly one in such a key position, could cost them big!

Given what we've seen of the pitch here in Jaipur and the way that not only RR but other teams have approached matches against Gujarat this year, then I think we will likely see the Royals revert to a 3 spin attack.

Zampa and Ashwin combined bowling stats at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in IPL 2023

Rajasthan's preference for 3 spinners is also as a result of their struggles in finding seamers who can close out an innings as we saw in the game against Mumbai Indians. Trent Boult and Jason Holder are collectively going at over 11 an over at the death and have taken just 2 wickets during that phase of the game.

By contrast, Rajasthan's spinners have a death over economy rate of 6.9 and have claimed 8 wickets between them. Against a GT side that has an average run-rate of higher than 12 an over during the final 5, then I'd expect to see Rajasthan push their spinners until at least the 17th/18th over mark before letting the quicks take over.

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All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
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IPL stadium statistics.
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