The Rajasthan Royals have won four of the last five games between these two sides, including a win earlier in the season when they squeezed home by six runs.
Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals | IPL 2025 Game 62 | Tuesday 20 May | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 4pm
Tuesday’s game is shaping up as the battle for the wooden spoon with the two sides currently joint bottom of the table with six points.
This will be the Rajasthan Royals 14th and final game of the season.
As their positions on the league table suggest, both sides are in poor form, each boasting just one win from their last five games.
CSK come into the game on the back of a rare win. their form has been on a slow yet steady upward curve in the last few games. Last time out Dewald Brevis led them to a win over KKR with a fine knock of 52 from 25 balls.
After his knock of 50 against PBKS on Sunday, Yashasvi Jaiswal was briefly the holder of the Orange Cap. He was passed on the same day by both Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, but he is still the tournament’s third highest scorer with 523 runs.
Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Formerly known as Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium this is the primary home of the Delhi Capitals but after the BCCI said that Chennai would not host any games following the resumption of the league, their final home game has been moved here.
The stadium slightly favours the chasing teams, but the advantage is marginal with 45 wins for the team batting first and 47 for the team batting second. There has also been a tie and a no result at the venue.
The highest individual score made at the ground came back in 2012 when the home side were the Delhi Daredevils – West Indian legend Chris Gayle smashed a fantastic, undefeated 128 for RCB.
The highest team score made here was 266/7 by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2024.
The last game at the venue saw Gujarat Titans opening duo Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan post an undefeated first wicket stand of 205.
Weather:
It’s been a heat wave in Delhi this past week and there is no sign of temperatures letting up on Tuesday when the maximum will once again be in the 40s. It will be a tad cooler by the time Tuesday’s game gets going, but it will still be well above 30 degrees. Humidity will be at 43%.
Form (most recent game first):
Chennai Super Kings: W, L, L, L, L.
Rajasthan Royals: L, L, L, W, L.
Key Players
Chennai Super Kings, Dewald Brevis: Since his arrival a couple of weeks before the league’s suspension CSK have been on the up. Brevis brings verve and imagination and a can-do attitude.
He’s had his work cut out for him in trying to resurrect a dismal CSK campaign, but he has made good runs in three of his last four innings – 52 last time out along with scores of 32 and 42. CSK’s top order have struggled all season, and it has been left to the middle-order to make the runs.
Rajasthan Royals, Yashasvi Jaiswal: The Royal’s Mr Dependable, Jaiswal was the holder of the Orange Cap for about five hours on Sunday afternoon.
He may have lost top place on the run scorers list, but he has nevertheless been prolific in recent games with scores of 50, 34, 13, 70* and 49 from his last five knocks. What is so impressive about Jaiswal is the speed he scores at – his strike rate is currently 158.
Verdict: Chennai Super Kings
This is a tough one to call as both sides seem to have forgotten how to win. But CSK’s form has been a slightly upward trajectory, and if this is to be MS Dohni’s final season in the IPL, CSK will be motivated to send him off with a couple of wins.
Mumbai Indians v Delhi Capitals | IPL 2025 Game 63 |Wednesday 21 May | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | 4pm
The Mumbai Indians have won four of the last five games between these two sides, including a win earlier in the season when they won by 12 runs.
This game looks set to be key in deciding who finishes fourth on the table. Both teams have two games still play (including Wednesday’s encounter against each other). MI have 14 points while the Capitals have 13.
A win for MI will mean they can’t be caught by the Capitals and barring a late run from LSG they will be into the play-offs. A loss for MI however means it will all come down to the final games. Both teams face PBKS in their final game.
The Mumbai Indians lost their last game, but before that they were in great form with six wins in a row – the best run in this season’s tournament thus far.
The Delhi Capitals have struggled for form in recent games – they have just a single win from their last five and have seemingly run out of momentum in the latter stages of the tournament.
Mumbai Indians bowler Jasprit Bumrah missed the first part of the tournament with an injury. his return coincided with an upswing of form for Mumbai. Bumrah is currently the most economical bowler in the tournament with an economy rate of 6.69.
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
The Mumbai Indians have a great record at Wankhede Stadium having won 54 of the 90 games they have played there (60%).
Chasing teams have traditionally done slightly better at Wankhede Stadium with the side batting second winning 67 times and the side batting first winning 55 of the 122 games played at the venue. There has also been one tie. However, momentum has swung a little in recent times with the team batting first have won six of the last 12 games at the venue.
The Wankhede Stadium is the IPL venue that has seen the most sixes hit. With 1680 sixes hit here since the start of the IPL, it has seen 200 more maximums struck than the second highest venue.
Weather:
It’s not looking good for cricket in Mumbai on Wednesday with rain due to start on Tuesday and to keep going for a week. It will almost certainly rain on Wednesday with a high chance that it will rain during the game. We may get lucky but expect interruptions.
Form (most recent game first):
Mumbai Indians: L, W, W, W, W.
Delhi Capitals: L, NR, L, L, W.
Key Players
Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma: The former Indian skipper struggled for form in the early stages of the tournament, but he was looking really good before the tournament was suspended.
He has passed 50 in three of his last five knocks and, along with Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order, is looking good and providing the Indians with the sort of platform they can attack from later in the innings.
Delhi Capitals, KL Rahul: In a tournament that has been light on three figure scores in 2025, KL Rahul made it look very easy on Sunday as he hit an undefeated 112 from 65 balls at the top of the Capitals order.
Sadly, it wasn’t enough to secure the win, but it was nevertheless a fine innings that underlined his current stellar form. He is averaging 61.62 per innings this season with 493 runs at a strike-rate of 148.04.
Verdict: Mumbai Indians
There is so much to play for here, most critically a spot in the tournament’s play-offs. The MI though appear to have the edge. They are playing at home, and they have a squad that is laden with top performers in excellent form.
Bumrah is key, but so too is Trent Boult – one of the best white-ball bowlers of his generation. On the batting front Rickelton and Sharma are looking good, while Suryakumar Yadav is the tournament’s fourth highest scorer.
Gujarat Titans v Lucknow Super Giants | IPL 2025 Game 64 | Thursday 22 May | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 4pm
LSG have won the last two encounters between these sides, including their match up earlier in the season – LSG won that game by six wickets with three balls to spare.
Following Monday night’s defeat to SRH, LSG are no longer in the running to make the play-offs. They needed to win all their remaining games if they were to have any hope of squeezing into fourth place, but that scenario is now gone. The most points they can get now is 24, and no matter what happen, either Delhi or Mumbai will reach 15 points to secure fourth.
The Titans are under no pressure at the moment; they qualified for the play-offs last time out as they beat Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets.
As befitting a team that is at the top of the table, the Titans are currently dominating the key stats. Opener Sai Sadharsan is in possession of the Orange Cap for the tournament’s leading scorer while Prasidh Krishna is the leading wicket-taker. Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler are also in the upper reaches of the leading run scorer table – Gill is second and Buttler is sixth.
The Titans top three batsmen are all averaging over 50 runs per innings thus far this season. They make a formidable combination. With an average of 71.42, Buttler has the top average of any batsman in the tournament’s top 40 scorers.
Usually a batsman who is feared, Rishabh Pant is having a very disappointing tournament and currently averages just 12.27 per innings.
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
The Titans record at home is not brilliant. Of the 21 games they have played at the Narendra Modi Stadium they have won 13 and lost eight. After joining IPL as a franchise in 2022, the GT enjoyed two stellar seasons, winning the tournament in their debut season and finishing second in year two.
Season three, 2024 was less successful however as they lost their way at home. Last season they won just three out of seven matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
GT skipper Shubman Gill has an outstanding record at the Narendra Modi Stadium. While his overall T20 average is 36.64 at the GT home ground he averages comfortably over 60.
The highest score posted at the venue was 233 for three scored by the Titans against Mumbai Indians in 2023. The lowest score meanwhile was a disappointing 89 all out for the Titans against Delhi Capitals last season.
Dew is frequently a factor at night in Ahmedabad which means that sides batting second tend to have the advantage. Despite that, of the 39 T20’s played at the venue, the side that fields first have won 21 times, while the side that bats first has won 17. There has also been one tie.
Weather:
It will be very hot and humid in Ahmedabad on Thursday with the forecast coming with an excessive heat warming. Rain is expected to arrive on Friday, but until then the conditions will be sticky and uncomfortable – the humidity high and the win nothing more than a light breeze.
Form (most recent game first):
Gujarat Titans: W, W, W, L, W.
Lucknow Super Giants: L, L, L, W, L.
Key Players
Gujarat Titans, Sai Sudharsan: The GT opener is in fantastic form and deservedly sits atop the list of the tournaments leading scorers. He has scarcely failed this tournament, setting a record for the most consecutive scores over 25 earlier in the competition. He only made five against MI two games ago, but he is averaging 56.09 and is brim full of confidence at the moment.
Lucknow Super Giants, Mitch Marsh: A powerful hitter of the ball who loves to attack at the top of the order, Marsh’s form has been patchy in recent games. But he looked good on Monday evening against SRH as he clobbered 65 from 39 balls in a century opening stand with Aiden Markram.
Verdict: Gujarat Titans
LSG started the tournament very well, but the consistent failures from Rishabh Pant, the loss of form for Nicholas Pooran and the inconsistent scores from Markram and Marsh have seen LSG floundering in recent weeks. The Titans should overpower them on Thursday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Sunrisers Hyderabad | IPL 2025 Game 65 | Friday 23 May | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | 4pm
RCB have won three of the last five encounters between these two sides
This is the first time these two sides will be facing each other this season
RCB’s Virat Kohli is one of the form batsmen of the tournament at the moment. With seven fifty plus scores to his name he has two more half-centuries to his name than the next best batsman. He is the key for RCB, when Kohli scores runs, RCB win.
RCB are in great form, and in they come into the game on the back of a run of four wins – their most recent game was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
RCB don’t have the best record at their home ground. Of the 96 games played there they have won 45 and lost 46. There have also been four no results and a tie.
The venue used to be regarded as one of the higher scoring grounds in IPL with short straight boundaries of around 65m. The highest score at the venue was a massive 287 for three posted in 2024 by SRH.
However recent trends suggest otherwise with RCB’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar recently commenting: “The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is known for being batting-friendly, but this pitch is not what it used to be…”
Despite their good form this season RCB have lost two of their home games to date.
Typically, this is a venue that favours sides batting second as the track tends to ease up. Chasing teams have won 53.68% of IPL matches played there. It’s 51 wins versus 43 between chasing and setting.
Not surprisingly Indian icon Virat Kohli has scored the most runs at the venue with a massive 3132 runs from 88 innings. But he doesn’t boast the venues’ highest score – that belongs to Chris Gayle who smashed an incredible 175* against Pune Warriors in 2013.
Giving how much the pitch has been easing up in the second innings, expect whoever wins the toss on Friday to bowl first. With rain expected, batting second is also an advantage.
Weather:
Rain is predicted in Bengaluru on Friday, but the percentages are low. If the rain does hold off then it will be humid but not too hot, with the temperature at 27 degrees and the humidity at an uncomfortable 81%
Form (most recent game first):
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: A, W, W, W, W.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: NR, L, W, L, L.
Key player:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Virat Kohli: Sitting fifth on the list of leading scorers this season, quite simply put, when Kohli scores runs, RCB win. In their three losses thus far, Kohli, who currently boasts 505 runs at an average of 63.12, managed scores of 7, 22 and 1.
It seems RCB are vulnerable when then Kohli falls cheaply. The good news for RCB is that he doesn’t fail often. In his last four knocks he has scored 62, 51, 70 and 73*. While the postponement may have affected his momentum, it seems unlikely – expect him to keep scoring on Friday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, Abhishek Sharma: Batting at the top of the order, Sharma has been in good touch for SRH despite their poor season. While he can be a little bit hit and miss, he scores fast, and he comes off more often than not.
His highest knock this season is a league high 141, while his last two innings have seen him post scores of 59 and 74. His strike-rate for the season is 192.26. One thing is for sure; Sharma will go after the bowlers from the first ball – he’s a good bet to top score for SRH.
Verdict: Royal Challengers Bengaluru
SRH got up to claim a rare win last time out when they beat LSG by six wickets. But LSG are a team struggling for results of late where as RCB have been serial winners this season. Undefeated in their last five games and with Virat Kohli in superb touch, it is hard to see SRH finding the win here.
