Match will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). KKR is standing at 6th and RR is standing at 5th in the points table.
Knight Riders won their last match against Punjab in the last ball and Royals lost their last match against SRH in the last ball only. Kolkata won by 5 wickets and Rajasthan lost the match by 4 wickets.
KKR finally sorted out their openers who are performing well. Jason Roy is looking in tremendous form in all his matches. He made 218 runs in 5 matches. Roy provides a solid start at the beginning and he starts hitting the ball from the very first over. Rahmanullah Gurbaz also tries to match shoulder to shoulder along with Roy and he is also providing runs. His conversion rate is low but still he gives good support to the team at the start of the match.
PC: Google
After a long waiting period, finally Jos Butler shows his hitting skills along with great scoring runs. He made 95 runs against SRH. He started the season well but after a few good starts he gets out early. Against SRH he looks in good touch and knocks the ball very well. Yashasvi Jaiswal is consistent with his batting. In every match he played he scored well. Due to his run scoring, he is placed 2nd in purple cap list with 477 runs in his credit.
Nitish Rana though being not so consistent, he scored a crucial innings of 51 runs against PBKS. He scores once in a while but he needs to be more effective with his shots playing and more consistent. Since not only the team depends upon him but also being a leader he needs to be available more time on the pitch. Venkatesh Iyer who started the season well is now looking dry up in his runs.
Rana told in the after match conference that Iyer was facing little niggle due to which he was able to bat properly in the last match. But he must be available for the clash against RR. And he needs to be more consistent with the bat also.
Like Butler, Samson also couldn’t see great touch but against SRH he scored 66 runs in 38 balls. A huge relief for him after this kind of knock. Being a captain he understands how crucial his role is. It must be interesting to watch him in Eden Gardens.
PC: Google
Rinku Singh again showed his class of hitting. His last ball boundary clinches the victory for the team. He establishes himself as an emerging player this season. Also the leading scorer from the side, and it’s a huge achievement for him since he came to bat down the order still he is scoring runs like a bullet. Andre Russell in the last two matches fully his muscles due to which Knight Riders are able to win the match. Against Punjab he scored 42 runs in just 23 balls and it’s just a regular day hitting of the giant West Indian.
Rajasthan needs the hitting of their main finisher Shimron Hetmyer. In the start he was hitting in some of the matches but in the last few matches he got out early and didn’t utilize much on the pitch. He needs to step up and show his destruction again which he is capable of. Dhruv Jurel the youngster showed some promising innings from his side.
Kolkata’s spinners are their match winners or their wicket taking machine this season. They are more successful and more consistent than the pacers. Varun Chakaravarthy grabbed 17 wickets till now, shows classical spells in Eden Gardens and once again the team is expecting the same from him against RR also. Suyash Sharma takes 10 wickets in 8 matches and he is also a dangerous leggie in this condition. Sunil Narine’s last few matches didn’t go well but he had a great record against Butler and Samson, so might be introduced early on.
Like KKR, RR is also dependent upon their spinners pretty much. Yuzvendra Chahal was also seen in action in the last match against SRH and took 4 wickets. Till now he also grabbed 17 wickets. R Ashwin took 14 wickets till now and he did have a great economy in the middle overs. Last year Chahal took a hattrick against KKR due to which they won the lost match. Trent Boult didn’t play the last match due to injury and is fit enough to play against KKR.
CLASHES (KKR vs RR):
Matches- 27
| KKR | RR | |
| WON | 14 | 12 |
| HIGHEST SCORE | 210 | 217 |
| LOWEST SCORE | 125 | 81 |
Pitch Report:
Eden Gardens, Kolkata will witness the match between KKR and RR. One side is 58m while the other side is 71m. Teams will definitely try to hit the shorter side of the ground. Spinners are more successful as compared to pacers in his pitch.
Probable playing 11 for KKR:
Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Nitish Rana ©, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana.
Probable playing 11 for RR:
Jos Butler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel , R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Adam Zampa.
Best playing 11 for the match:
Jos Butler, Sanju Samson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Yashasvi Jaiswal, R Ashwin, Andre Russell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma.