RR vs KKR Highlights, IPL 2024: Rain forces washout in Guwahati; Rajasthan slip to Eliminator match vs RCB

With the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals match getting abandoned due to rain, the Sunrisers Hyderabad finished the group stage in the second position. Both SRH and RR have the same points (17) after 14 games but SRH just edged RR due to a superior net run rate. READ MORE FOR FULL IPL 2024 PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE AND DETAILS

It's a washout. Rajasthan Royals finish third and step down to the Eliminator!

The umpires and other officials have huddled below a few umbrellas in the middle as the rain remains steady. There's about 10-11 minutes to salvage a game out of the conditions. 

It's raining again as the covers come on right after the toss. How cruel!

It's raining again as the covers come on right after the toss. How cruel!

• Start of Play: 10:45 PM IST
• Seven overs a side
• Powerplay: 2 overs
• No time outs.
• Four bowlers can bowl: 2, 2, 2 and 1 over per bowler.

TOSS: Kolkata win toss, opt to bowl in a 7-overs match

And we have a toss happening right now! Samson and Iyer in readiness.

Sanju Samson is having a chat with bowling coach Shane Bond while Riyan Parag walks out to inspect the pitch.

The umpires have begun their inspection of the outfield. A few patches in the deep are still holding water and the super-soppers have been roped in to drain the water out.

The players have begun warming up with Iyer leading the KKR pack. Kumar Sangakkara continues to have a word with the officials and the outfield seems in much better condition now. Gautam Gambhir and Chandrakant Pandit also walk in for a discussion soon after.

Pitch inspection set at 10:25pm. The outfield is still muggy but the super-soppers are grinding it out.

Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer are having a word with the umpires. The discussion must be around the possible change in playing conditions for a five-over game.

Good news: The pitch covers are being removed, finally. The groundstaff and officials are having a race against time here. The toss must take place around 10:41pm. 

Good news: The pitch covers are being removed, finally. The groundstaff and officials are having a race against time here. The toss must take place around 10:41pm. 

The rain has relented and a few officials have walked out to assess the conditions. The groundstaff almost instantly proceed to remove the covers. Wonder what is going on! Ashwin and a few other Rajasthan players have walked out to the field.

Not a lot has changed in the last 20 minutes or so at the venue. It seems increasingly difficult to even expect a five-over game in an hour's time.

You guys keep us going. ? pic.twitter.com/hBkemL2RnP

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 19, 2024

Sadly, not a lot has changed at the venue in the last 20 minutes or so. It seems to be increasingly difficult to expect a start even for a five-over game in an hour's time.

As things stand, 

Qualifier 1: KKR v SRH

Eliminator: RR v RCB

The covers remain intact as the rains continue to hit hard. 

The cut-off for a five-over game will be 10:56pm with the ground made ready at least 15 minutes in advance for the toss. Hang in there, folks.

?? pic.twitter.com/kzvmCVS2pK

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 19, 2024

Who will win IPL 2024? Place your bets on SRH, they are following the Shane Warne playlist. Read More from Sandeep Dwivedi's Sports Column

Adding to the gravitas of the situation is the lightning and thunder around the stadium now. Covers fully in place across the square and things continue to remain bleak by the passing minute.

Adding to the gravitas of the situation is the lightning and thunder around the stadium now. Covers fully in place across the square and things continue to remain bleak by the passing minute.

The rains have returned with another tide and the covers are coming back. An anxious evening continues for the Rajasthan fans.

The groundstaff are back in action as the rain finally comes to a halt. The entire square is being uncovered for the first time in almost two hours. 

The groundstaff are back in action as the rain finally comes to a halt. 

Rajasthan will certainly be livid with themselves after finding themselves praying against the rain gods out here in Guwahati. With the start they had, Samson's men may have been comfortably limbering up for the first qualifier. Instead they find themselves prepping for a showdown with RCB in the Eliminator. The absence of Jos Buttler and the combined lack of form from the Englishman and his opening partner Jaiswal has hurt RR this season. Skipper Samson has often found himself entering early on in the Powerplay, playing the anchor instead of his usual aggressive self. Despite the runs from the captain and Riyan Parag, RR have remained thin on reliable bats lately.

Rajasthan will certainly be livid with themselves after finding themselves praying against the rain gods out here in Guwahati. With the start they had, Samson's men may have been comfortably limbering up for the first qualifier. Instead they find themselves prepping for a showdown with RCB in the Eliminator. The absence of Jos Buttler and the combined lack of form from the Englishman and his opening partner Jaiswal has hurt RR this season. Skipper Samson has often found himself entering early on in the Powerplay, playing the anchor instead of his usual aggressive self. Despite the runs from the captain and Riyan Parag, RR have remained thin on reliable bats lately.

Not a lot of activity happening out on the field now. The super soppers have receded with the steady drizzle. Most of the covers have remained and we have started to lose overs from the match. 

Abhishek Sharma’s blitz in the Powerplay, with Rahul Tripathi’s support, followed by smart batting from Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klassen helps Sunrisers Hyderabad end league stage on a high. Here's how SRH put their chasing demons to bed.

This has been a delay of nearly an hour and 20 minutes. Another 15 minutes and we will start to lose overs from the final contest in the league stage.

More covers from across the square are coming off and two super-soppers have quickly sprung onto the outfield.

With the rain settling down to a drizzle, the groundsmen are taking away some covers from the edge of the square.

With the rain settling down to a drizzle, the groundsmen are taking away some covers from outside the square.

Even before Axar Patel pouched the top-edged pull from Yashasvi Jaiswal at mid-off, the bowler Khaleel Ahmed pointed his finger at his Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant. It seemed as if it was a plan that had come off. Two features stood out: a left-arm seamer and miscued pull off a short rising ball.

Though the left-handed opener has mustered 320 runs with an impressive strike rate of 157.64 this IPL, it is Yashasvi Jaiswal’s struggle against the left-arm seamers and the miscued attempts to pull back-of-the-length deliveries that would worry the Indian team, heading into the T20 World Cup. READ MORE

The downpour has eased into a drizzle now but it has done enough damage on the outfield, forming huge puddles on the covers past the square. Frustrating scenes indeed.

The rain is getting heavier in Guwahati and the groundsmen have set out to cover the entire playing area. Bummer. 

Positions	Teams	Matches played	Win	Loss	NRR	For	Against	Points	Recent Form
1.	KKR	13	9	3	1.428	2389/225.0	2135/232.2	19	N,W,W,W,W
2.	SRH	14	8	5	0.414	2605/247.0	2599/256.3	17	W,N,W,L,W
3.	RR	13	8	5	0.273	2334/252.1	2310/257.1	16	L,L,L,L,W
4.	RCB	14	7	7	0.459	2758/269.0	2646/270.1	14	W,W,W,W,W
5.	CSK	14	7	7	0.392	2524/274.4	2415/274.3	14	L,W,L,W,L
6.	DC	14	7	7	-0.377	2573/267.0	2762/275.5	14	W,L,W,L,W
7.	LSG	14	7	7	-0.667	2483/277.5	2521/262.3	14	W,L,L,L,W
8.	GT	13	5	7	-1.063	2040/238.2	2101/218.2	11	N,W,L,L,L
9.	PBKS	13	5	8	-0.347	2273/254.3	2397/258.2	10	W,L,L,W,W
10.	MI	14	4	10	-0.318	2372/248.5	2660/269.3	8	L,L,L,W,L

More covers have come on across the square as the rain continues at a steady rate. This is likely to be another long night out there.

It's been absolutely mad, the atmosphere, the crowds. The kind of support we have been getting is amazing. For me spending a lot of time on the bench, being able to watch the cricket, I have learned so much and it's been an amazing experience. Hopefully we manage to get on a roll and get back to winning ways tonight.

We had a great start and normally if you lose four in a row, then you might be struggling at the back end. But we have qualified and if we win tonight we are guaranteed a top-two. We are in a great position and hopefully we can get the ball rolling and get the confidence back. You always want to win every game you play. We are going out there tonight to win. We can't control what happens in the future, but we can control what happens tonight - put in a good performance and then focus on the qualifiers.

(The Mood in the camp) I don't think you'd be able to tell that we've lost four in a row. Great spirit among the lads, everyone is really close and confident. We all have each others' backing. (On Riyan Parag) Very inspirational actually. I've followed his journey a little bit from afar. He's had a couple of tough years, he's had a lot of abuses and he's had a lot of people kind of hating on him.

While we wait, here is a read on last night's hero, Yash Dayal. 

At Yash Dayal’s home in Prayagraj, no one was watching Saturday’s crucial Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings tie, the do-or-die game between the IPL’s two most popular sides. Since last year, the family had been wary of tuning in to IPL’s high-pressure matches involving their son, the 26-year-old RCB pacer who mostly gets to bowl the all-important final over. READ MORE

Sunrisers Hyderabad chase down 215 against PBKS and jumps to the second spot. Rajasthan now need a win over Kolkata tonight to pip SRH and make Qualifier 1.

Can a change in gear cause an impact in a player's form? Well, Robin Uthappa believes so. He reckons a change in helmet has caused a slump in Yashasvi Jaiswal's form this season. Uthappa adds on that Jaiswal's always used a particular brand of helmet before enforcing a change ahead of the IPL season and the adjustments may have been delayed in his new gear. 

Bad news: The covers are coming on with a drizzle, moments away from the toss. This must be really demoralising news for RR fans. It seems to be a light drizzle but the pitch has been covered. The outfield remains unsheathed.

Anjum Chopra and Matthew Hayden analyse: "We are at the centre. Square boundaries 61-62m pretty much equidistant. The straight one is 73m. We have got a cracking wicket here and I think it's a different-looking wicket than the one we had last game. Last year DC got 199 on this pitch and RR couldn't chase it down. I would say batting first. It's really hard and has a better sheen to it. Better preparation (than last game) I feel. It's got a really nice covering of grass and the patches that don't have the grass you can see the sheen so the ball is going to slide on. Better wicket tonight for sure."

Who would have thought that the Royals would end up in a situation where they would be fretting over a Qualifier 1 spot given the start they had. With SRH steaming through the chase against Punjab, Samson and Co. will be pinned to win this game to make it through to the first Playoffs match. Given the rain situation around Guwahati, things could be increasingly difficult for the Royals tonight against an in-form KKR unit.

Rajasthan Royals could concede the second spot if they lose their fifth consecutive match tonight and Sunrisers Hyderabad manage to trump Punjab Kings in their 215 chase in Hyderabad. If SRH prevail, RR would simply need a win to finish second and feature in the Qualifier 1 match in Ahmedabad.

RR predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Sub: Donovan Fereira

KKR predicted XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana

Impact Sub: Vaibhav Arora

Out-of-contention Punjab Kings extend Rajasthan Royals losing streak as Sam Curran leads from the front with bat and ball. (READ MORE)

Back from the brink of elimination with a five-match winning streak, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru have battled admirably to stay alive in the IPL 2024 playoffs race, heading into their final league game at home against the Chennai Super Kings.

With both teams clashing in a virtual knockout for a last-four spot, the fierce rivalry coupled with the potential last dance of the MS Dhoni-Virat Kohli meeting will take the hype.

Last week The Times, London, carried a heartrending obit of Jonathan Mills, a 55-year-old club cricketer. Written by his brother Daniel, the tribute was for the sales executive of a beauty company for whom cricket wasn’t about playing for his country or county. A passionately committed cricketer, Jonathan’s life and career choices were dictated by season and schedule of his beloved Brookweald Cricket Club.

He scored two hundreds as a long-time opener of the club that, as claimed by its website, happens to be in the prettiest part of Essex, serves the best tea in the league, has its own bar and is the perfect place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. It’s in this picturesque surrounding that Jonathan got the final hundred of his life, which according to his brother was straight from the “golden age of schoolboy magazine stories”.

Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman Suresh Raina feels MS Dhoni must carry on for one more season to help Ruturaj Gaikwad grow as a captain.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) knocked out defending champions CSK by 27 runs and snuck into the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru players were a boisterous bunch after they managed to pull off a heist against the Chennai Super Kings in their final group stage game of IPL 2024 on Saturday. Needing to defend 17 runs in the final over, Yash Dayal got Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s wicket on the second ball to help RCB qualify.

It was one of the biggest turnarounds of IPL 2024: the RCB team was at the bottom of the standings of the IPL at one stage.

At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings played out an IPL classic, with the hosts winning a thriller in the last over. Though the rain caused only a 41-minute break, it proved to be the massive factor in the outcome. Here is a recap of the drama that unfolded as RCB made the play-offs at the expense of the defending champions. (READ HERE)

Meanwhile, in the other crucial game of the day, Punjab Kings posted 214/5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the chase, Arshdeep Singh cleans up Travis Head in the first ball of the innings. Rajasthan will be pretty happy with the proceedings. (Check it out here)

Rain and scattered thunderstorms are expected in the evening during the match.