RR didn’t show their best cricket in Qualifying 1 but still managed to put up an impressive fight. Jos Buttler bounced back from a slow start only to explode during the last few overs. Sanju Samson played an absolute high flyer and Devdutt Padikkal looked in fine form again but lacked fluidity in the innings. The lack of depth has so far been compensated by Jos Buttler’s tremendous batting form, but there’s no doubt that the team are vulnerable to a few early wickets. One of the big things that has spoken for RR so far has been their brilliant bowling attack. You can count on Trent Boult to give you early wickets and Yuzvendra Chahal to be very hard to beat in the second half of the bowling stint. Both had mediocre games while Prasidh Krishna and R. Ashwin had bad ones. Obed McCoy seems to fit well into this lineup. It will be interesting to see if RR is tempted to bring in someone like Jimmy Neesham or even Karun Nair to bolster shot depth while sacrificing some bowling quality.
The New York Yankees, after a nondescript stretch earlier in the week, began to return to their former form and got two wins in a row over the Baltimore Orioles (7:6 and 2:0), gaining a foothold in the top position in the American League overall standings. Wards of Aaron Boon have somewhat lost the advantage over competitors and are now forced to again increase the distance from the main pursuers. In their previous visit to Tropicana Field, the New Yorkers were defeated by the hosts (0:14) and have a desire to take revenge.
