On 2 April, the Royals started their season campaign with a dominant victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Batting first, the Royals got off to an explosive start, with Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sanju Samson recording half-centuries. 85 runs were scored in the powerplay, and the total crossed 100 in just 7.4 overs. While the middle order faltered later on, a vital cameo from Shimron Hetmyer helped Rajasthan post a total of 203 runs, for the loss of five wickets. In the first over of the second innings, Trent Boultdismissed both Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi for ducks. The rest of the batting lineup quickly collapsed, with the score standing at 95 runs for 8 wickets at one point. Abdul Samad offered resistance with his knock of 32*, but the Sunrisers ended their innings with 131/8, falling short of the Royals' total by 72 runs.[5]
In their second match of the season, on 5 April, they lost to the Punjab Kings in a close encounter. In the first innings, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran got the Kings off to a great start, with 63 runs being score in the powerplay for no loss. In the second innings, the Royals sent Ravichandran Ashwin out as an opener, since Jos Buttler was recovering from an injury sustained earlier on in the match. Ashwin, however, was dismissed for a duck as the Royals struggled to gain momentum.[6]
They recorded a 57-run victory over the Delhi Capitals on 8 April.[7]
On 12 April, they won against the Chennai Super Kings.[8]
