Abu Dhabi: Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and opted to field first against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) here at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday.
The last time these two teams met in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), KXIP defeated the Royals by 97 runs.
KXIP are coming into this game on the back of their five-match winning streak, where they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mumbai Indians (MI), Delhi Capitals (DC), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The KL Rahul-led unit, which now has 6 wins to their name from 12 matches, is now in with a chance to seal a playoff spot.
On the other hand, the Royals have registered 5 wins from 12 games, the latest being their convincing eight-wicket win against MI on the back of a sensational hundred from Ben Stokes and a fine half-century from Sanju Samson.
The Royals have made one changes as Varun Aaron comes in the playing XI while KXIP has fielded an unchanged XI.
KXIP Playing XI:
KL Rahul (c & wk), Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI:
Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson (wk), Jos Buttler, Steven Smith (c), Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Kartik Tyagi.