After snatching the victory from the jaws of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Rider would fly to Jaipur to lock horns against Rajasthan Royals in the 21st fixture of IPL on Sunday at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur.
At the present, Rajasthan Royals at the second last position on the points table with just one win in its four matches. While Kolkata Knight Riders have been riding impressive this season with three wins in four matches which makes them sit in the second position at the points table.
Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Preview
By all grace, Rajasthan Royals were able to register their first win of the tournament after against RCB in the last encounter. Royals struggled to figure out on how to jump off the hurdles in their first three games.
Now with their latest win, they would want to push themselves to any limit, so that they could make an impact in upcoming matches.
Coming to Kolkata Knight Riders, they didn’t waste their time thinking about a super over defeat against DC, rather they came strong against RCB on Friday.
RCB managed to reach a mammoth score of 205 runs in 20 over, but giant Andre Russell spoiled their happiness when he snatched the victory from RCB’s hand by hitting 48 runs off 13 balls.
It would be interesting to see if Rajasthan Royals have found out tactics to win their second game of the season or KKR batsmen would again show no mercy to the opposition bowlers.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur
7th April, 08:00 PM IST
Total matches: 19
Kolkata Knight Riders won: 9 games
Rajasthan Royals: 9 games
No result: 1 game
Pitch of Sawai Man Singh Stadium has witnessed several high scoring matches. 185 runs were easily scored here in the first match of this IPL season, whereas due factor is to play some important role for the batsmen. No rain is expected here.
Total matches: 42
Matches won batting first: 15
Matches won bowling first: 27
Average 1st Inns scores: 157
Average 2nd Inns scores: 143
Highest total recorded: 197/5 (19.4 Ov) by RR vs DCG
Lowest total recorded: 92/10 (18.2 Ov) by MI vs RR
Highest score chased: 197/5 (19.4 Ov) by RR vs DCG
Lowest score defended: 151/7 (20 Ov) by SRH vs RR
Both the sides are expected to make no changes to their side. They are most likely to enter the ground with their last winning combination.
Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson have been delivering good cricket with their willows, Ajinkya Rahane must take more responsibility for his team.
Bowling has been weak for RR especially in the death over. Bowlers must take care when Russell stands to face them.
Andre Russell of KKR announced his importance after an incredible knock against RCB in their last encounter.
Nitish Rana has been doing well with his willow for KKR. Spinners have proved their presence in the team, but when it comes to fast bowling, KKR has been seen struggling a lot just like Royals.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Dinesh Karthik (C), Joe Denly, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prithvi Raj, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, KC Cariappa, Shubman Gill, Harry Gurney, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Rinku Singh, Shrikant Mundhe, Nikhil Naik.
Rajasthan Royal: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra, Prashant Chopra, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Shubham Ranjane, Oshane Thomas, Jofra Archer, Riyan Parag, Aryaman Birla, Sudhesan Midhun
Playing 11 ( KKR vs RR)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna
Rajasthan Royals:
Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jorfa Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni
J Buttler
R Uthappa
N Rana
Shubman Gill
A Rahane
A Samson
A Russell (c)
B Stokes (vc)
Kuldeep Yadav
V Aaron
J Archer
Key Players:
KKR:
Sunil Narine
A Russell
Dinesh Karthik
N Rana
RR:
A Samson
B Stokes
J Archer
Steve Smith
Team: As we all know, Andre Russell turned beast against RCB and he is expected to do the same in the next match. The player is compatible with picking wickets too. B Stokes is expected to get runs and pick wickets for RR, so he must be your pick up.