After winning five of their first six games, Kings XI Punjab have hit the buffers and lost their last two matches.
Chris Gayle scored a half-century in the last match, however, taking him past 300 runs for the season despite playing just five matches.
Rajasthan Royals have won nine of their 15 matches against Kings XI Punjab, but this will be their first meeting since the Royals' two-year IPL ban ended.
PBKS vs RR Win Probability
The "Chance of Winning" Widget shows winning percentage depending upon live betting odds of teams participating in the match. The winning percentage is changed immediately when odds are updated.
Kings XI Punjab need to get back to winning ways when they face Rajasthan Royals in the 38th match of the 2018 Indian Premier League. Scheduled to start on May 6, the live action begins at 20:00 local time.
KXIP vs RR: Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Star Sports, Sky Sports, Willow TV, SuperSport, Geo Super, Channel 9, Fox Sports, BeIN Sport
As is the general trend in the Indian Premier League, the only game at Indore so far saw the team winning the toss - Mumbai Indians - elect to field first.
Read on for team previews, latest odds, betting tips and prediction for Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals, Indian Premier League.
PBKS Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Chris Gayle is back in the Kings XI Punjab line-up and, on the back of his half-century against Mumbai Indians, back in form too. Out-of-form Aaron Finch was dropped for that game, paying the price for failing to pass 14 in five innings so far - two of which saw him dismissed without scoring. Marcus Stoinis was his replacement against Mumbai, and after the all-rounder hit 29 from 15 balls he is likely to keep his place despite being expensive with the ball. Yuvraj Singh also returned for the last game, as Manoj Tiwary found himself surplus to requirements.
Key Players
Chris Gayle has been in supreme form in this year's IPL, with his five innings so far yielding scores of 63, 104*, 62*, 23 and 50. The West Indian's return is a big boost for Kings XI Punjab who now need their other big hitters to start to find form - Yuvraj Singh has failed to fire this year, but Lokesh Rahul has scored 292 from eight innings, including two half-centuries. Marcus Stoinis impressed on his return to the team last time out, with the bat at least, while Ankit Rajpoot will look to recapture the form that saw him handed two consecutive man of the match awards and claim a return of 5/14 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Recent Form
Kings XI Punjab have lost their last two matches, after crashing to 119 all out against Sunrisers Hyderabad in response to 132/6 and then failing to defend 174/6 against Mumbai Indians. They had won four in a row before that, thanks to some explosive batting led by Chris Gayle. They currently sit on ten points from eight matches in total.
PBKS Predicted Playing 11
Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
PBKS vs RR Match Prediction
RR Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Rajasthan Royals altered their batting line-up against Delhi Daredevils and were nearly rewarded as they fell just four runs short of their revised target in a rain-affected match. D'Arcy Short returned to the team and opened the batting with Jos Buttler, and they put on 82 in just 40 balls for the first wicket. Captain Ajinkya Rahane did not bat. Short's return meant Ish Sodhi missed out again, and after their bowlers took a punishing it may mean more rotation for their overseas players.
Key Players
Jos Buttler's big-hitting against Delhi Daredevils last time out was a reminder of his strength, and his 67 from 26 balls took him to 187 runs for the season. Fellow England international Ben Stokes has scored 148 runs but Rajasthan need more from their two power hitters going forward. Snju Samson has been the team's top scorer with 282, including one knock of 92*.
Recent Form
The rain-affected four-run defeat to Delhi Daredevils last time out was Rajasthan's fifth defeat of the season and their second in a row as they failed to seize the initiative after beating Mumbai Indians by three wickets, chasing 168 to win. That game was followed by an 11-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad despite Ajinkya Rahane scoring 65 from 53 balls, before Jos Buttler's power-hitting and opening partnership with D'Arcy Short was unable to inspire them to chase down the revised target of 151 from 12 overs.
This will be the first match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals since the latter's two-year IPL ban ended. Prior to that, Rajasthan Royals won nine of the 15 matches between the two teams.
Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals Betting Odds
Kings XI Punjab are clear favourites with the bookmakers but you can still back them at a best price of 1.83 to beat Rajasthan Royals with Betfair. Bet365 have priced the home win at 1.72. Rajasthan are 2.10 to win with Bet365 and 2.00 with Betfair.
With Chris Gayle back in the team it is little surprise to see him favourite to finish as Kings XI Punjab's top batsman. He is 3.50 with both Bet365 and Betfair. Furthermore, you can back him at 5.00 to finish as top batsman in the match - a potentially good bet given the inconsistent form of Rajasthan's leading batsmen.
Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals Prediction
Kings XI Punjab may have lost their last two games, but with Chris Gayle fit and firing again they can get back to winning ways against out-of-form Rajasthan Royals.
Final Verdict: Back Kings XI Punjab to beat Rajasthan Royals at 1.83 with Betfair and 1.72 with Bet365.
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May 06, 2018
20:00 IST / 14:30 GMT
Holkar Cricket Stadium - Indore, India
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We do our best to give you most accurate & useful match predictions and would love to hear from you. Let us know if we need to improve. Share your own predictions for the matches. Let's talk: