IPL 2026 | Match 64: RR vs LSG| Preview and Predictions
Match 64 of the 2026 Indian Premier League season will see a vital clash between the Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur on 19th May. As for LSG, this doesn’t mean much but for the Royals this is a potential do-or-die game in their race for the playoffs.
Here is our preview and prediction for the game.
Indian Premier League 2026 | Match 64: Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants| 19:30 IST, 19th May
Rajasthan Royals still have a chance to qualify for the playoffs but its important that they win this particular fixture. RR have also suffered due to inconsistent performances more often with the bat and a few times with the ball. Their fielding has also been dismal at times – missed runouts, dropped catches, poor ground fielding all contributing to the defeats. Also, their dependency on the top order has been quite evident as the middle order has performed on rare occasions this season. Their opening bowling partnership of Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger worked well for a couple of games before they started to leak runs heavily and Ravi Bishnoi hasn’t been as effective as past few seasons.
The Rajasthan Royals played the Delhi Capitals in their most recent fixture. Batting first, Vaibhav Suryavanshi shone again for the RR, scoring a blistering 46 off 21 balls and hitting even the experienced Mitchell Starc for plenty of runs. Dhruv Jurel and captain Riyan Parag carried the momentum forward with fifties but one over from Starc stemmed the RR onslaught as he took three wickets in four balls to bring DC back in the game. Youngster Madhav Tiwari and Lungi Ngidi too bowled an exceptional spell, taking two wickets each and conceding less than 30 runs in their four overs. Though Starc conceded a few more, he took four wickets and bowled superbly in the death to limit RR to less than 200 when it seemed like they could get around 220-230 at one point of time.
In response the DC openers KL Rahul and Abhishek Porel both exploited the powerplay and set up a 105 runs partnership before RR could find a breakthrough. Though DC lost a couple of wickets while chasing the target, in the end they chased it down comfortably with captain Axar Patel (34* off 18 balls) and Ashutosh Sharma (18* off 5 balls) helping their team to a win. Mitchell Starc was awarded the Man-of-the-Match award for his incredible second spell that turned the tables for DC.
As for their opponents, LSG have nothing much to play for but they could spoil RR’s party. The last game they played was against the Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk in Chennai and defeated the hosts on their home turf.
Batting first, the CSK opening pair of Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad didn’t give them a good enough start. Gaikwad has not been up to his usual top standards this season while Samson has carried the burden of the batting more often but he too failed on this occasion. Newbie Akash Singh impressed with the ball for LSG, taking the scalp of both openers and the dangerous Urvil Patel who had scored the joint-fastest IPL half-century in the previous game. Youngster Kartik Sharma fought a lone battle, top-scoring with 71 off 42 balls and then Shivam Dube’s quickfire 32* off 16 balls ensured CSK reached a fighting total of 187/5.
LSG’s riposte included a superb opening partnership of 135 runs between Mitchell Marsh (90 off 38 balls) and Josh Inglis (36 off 32 balls) that potentially took the game away from CSK. Nicholas Pooran then finished the run chase with a quickfire 30+ score to take LSG home comfortably with 20 balls left. However, the foundation for the win was set by the two Aussie openers.
There will be no pressure on LSG for this game as they are already out of the race but RR would be desperate to get a positive result. LSG’s bowling attack has really come to the fore this season, especially the variety they have in the fast-bowling area. It’s been heartening to see the likes of Prince Yadav and Akash Singh prove themselves on one of the biggest stages of franchise cricket.
Coming to this particular match-up, this could be a battle between the two opening pairs of Jaiswal-Suryavanshi and Marsh-Inglis. If either pair gets going, the opposition could be out of the game within 10 overs, hence finding an early breakthrough is very important for either side. Nicholas Pooran has found his mojo as the tournament has gone on but unfortunately, it came a little late for the Lucknow franchise. However, the middle order of both teams has shown patchy performances, hence it’s important for the top order to come good.
If we compare the bowling attack of the two sides, LSG might have a slight edge but desperation could motivate the Royals to take this match more seriously and go on to win to keep the excitement alive. Our prediction for this game would be a Rajasthan Royals win.
Fantasy XI: Mitchell Marsh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c) (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Mukul Choudhary, Donovan Ferreira, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav.
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Winner’s Prediction: Rajasthan Royals
