Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s clash in IPL 2020 will be vital in the race for the play-offs. A win for Steve Smith’s team will boost them to the fourth spot and displace Kolkata Knight Riders, whose prospects and net run-rate have taken an absolute pounding after the horror loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi. The loss for Kolkata Knight Riders has opened up a huge life-line for the likes of Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and even Chennai Super Kings (mathematically) to stake a claim for the fourth place. This will once again be a grudge match between two sides which ended in a tense way in the first encounter in Dubai.

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In the first match, Rajasthan Royals were almost down and out after they were reduced to 78/5 in their chase of 164. However, some magical batting from Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag helped Rajasthan Royals cross the line with just a ball to spare. After the match, there were some tense moments as Tewatia and Khaleel Ahmed had a confrontation which was halted by David Warner.

Weather conditions

The temperature in Dubai will be hot and dry with a maximum of 33 degrees and a minimum of 22 degrees. The humidity will be at 46 per cent but one has seen in Dubai that dew will play a factor in the night games.

Pitch report

The wicket in Dubai has been slightly two-paced with conditions assisting the spinners a lot. However, with the wickets now easing, teams are opting to chase after winning the toss. A total of 160-170 is considered a par score on this wicket.

Probable 11s

Rajasthan Royals: Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson (wk), Steven Smith (c), Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot, Kartik Tyagi

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson/Jason Holder, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Basil Thampi