The Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders will host the runner-ups of the IPL 2022, Rajasthan Royals in the 31st match of the 2024 Indian Premier League season at the Eden Gardens stadium on Tuesday.
Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals looked dominant as they are at the top of the points table with five victories out of their first six matches. The Kolkata Knight Riders also started their campaign promisingly with four victories out of their first five matches.
What has happened so far?
Rajasthan Royals have performed exceptionally well so far in this season, with almost all boxes ticking. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was struggling in the initial matches, also looked in good touch in the last match against Punjab Kings, which eventually proved to be helpful at the end of a close encounter.
Rajasthan Royals have suffered only one defeat against Gujarat Titans this season. So they will be looking to continue their great momentum in the upcoming matches.
On the other hand, KKR, who are currently in second place in the points table, also lost just one match against Chennai Super Kings. In the last match, they registered a comprehensive win against Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens with Philip Salt’s magnificent 89 runs.
After being expensive in a few matches, Mitchell Starc has also found his rhythm back and looked in great touch, taking three wickets in the last match against LSG. The Knight Riders hope to maintain their winning momentum by defeating the table toppers on Tuesday.
Head to Head Record
Thus far, in 28 matches, the Royals have won 13 matches and the Knight Riders have won 14 matches, with one match ending without any result.
In the ten encounters between KKR and RR that have taken place at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens so far, KKR has dominated RR, winning six of the matches, while RR has only won three matches with a solitary match ending without a result.
Key Players
Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders): The pinch-hitter Sunil Narine had given KKR a couple of really quick starts that put the opposition team on the back foot right from the beginning. So far in the IPL 2024, Narine has scored 161 runs with a strike rate of 189.41 and an average of 40.25.
Not just with the bat, but Narine could come in handy with the bowl as well at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He has taken 62 wickets with an economy rate of just 6.30 in 53 matches played there.
Yuzvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals): The purple cap-holder spin wizard Yuzvendra Chahal has been in his element so far in the season, as he has taken 11 wickets in 6 matches with an economy rate of 7.40.
Yuzvendra Chahal is only two wickets away from completing 200 wickets in the IPL
If Eden Gardens has a slow wicket, then Yuzvendra Chahal can trouble the KKR batters, as they had a difficult outing in their match against CSK at Chepauk, where the wicket was slow and the KKR batters found it difficult to score runs, and the team ended up losing that match.
Team News from Both Camps
The Rajasthan Royals looked like the most settled team so far in the season, but they missed some of their key players in the last match due to injury. Jos Buttler and Ravichandran Ashwin missed out on the last game as Buttler was not 100% fit while Ashwin had a niggle.
Nandre Burger has also been missing from the RR line-up for a couple of matches while Sandeep Sharma hasn’t been seen on the field since his injury earlier in the tournament.
While for the KKR, Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana had recovered from their respective injuries with the Knight Riders’ management even opting to play Harshit in their last fixture.
Predicted XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Phil Salt (wk), Shreyas Iyer ©, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson © (wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Keshav Maharaj, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal
Prediction
Both teams would be eager to clinch the crucial two points and get one step closer to playoff qualification but the Knight Riders hold a slight edge in head-to-head encounters, and they also have the dominant record at their home ground against the Rajasthan Royals.
All things considered, It will be a fiery match on Tuesday evening in Kolkata, as both teams will be looking to continue their winning momentum.
