Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Eden Gardens for their respective second game of the on-going season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The visitors come into this game on the back of a thumping victory against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday. Powered by the opening duo of Faf du Plessis (73) and Virat Kohli (82), Bangalore chased down 172 in merely 16.2 overs as they kicked off the campaign on a strong note.
On the other hand, KKR failed to chase down their revised target of 154 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday. The Nitish Rana-led side will be hoping that a return to their home ground will bring about a change in their fortunes as the team deals with the absence of their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer this season.
KKR have signed English swashbuckling opener Jason Roy as a replacement for Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib al Hasan and that will significantly strengthen their top-order that seemed to be knack enough mettle and quality in the opening game at least.
Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh and Afghan wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz occupied the first two spots against PBKS and neither of them did enough to chase down the challenging total set in front of them. It is unlikely that Roy will walk straight into the XI for this game and hence the duo of Mandeep and Gurbaz get one another opportunity before either of places is taken over by the English opener in the coming matches.
RCB, on the other hand, might have to deal with the absence of Reece Topley who dislocated his shoulder in the previous match. Ian Bishop revealed on air that the pacer’s shoulder was put back in place but he didn’t participate post that incident in the game.
Predicted Playing XI:
KKR: Mandeep Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy.
Impact Player: Anukul Roy
RCB: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, David Willey, Mohammed Siraj.
Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror
KKR vs RCB head to head
Matches played: 30
KKR wins: 16
RCB wins: 14
Key Player To Watch
Nitish Rana (KKR)
The southpaw has been one of the most consistent players for KKR over the years but he has to assume greater responsibility in Iyer’s absence this season. Rana’s form tends to fade away as the season progresses usually but he can ill-afford to do that amidst an already weakened batting unit this time around. He will be hoping to delight the home crowd with his power-hitting skills against RCB.
Virat Kohli (RCB)
Kohli reiterated his class as he mastered the chase with an unbeaten 82 in the last game. He will relish the bounce on offer at the freshly laid Eden track considering the kind of form that he is in. KKR do not have any bowlers who can outright trouble Kohli from the offset. If he manages to get in the groove, the audience could be in for yet another special knock from the former India skipper.
Pitch Report
The average first innings batting score in 12 T20Is in Eden Gardens is 155 and that suggests that a fair battle between the bat and the ball is on the cards for Thursday’s game.
Where to Watch?
The match will start at 7:30 PM IST on Thursday and it will be telecast live on the Star Sports network. Online viewers can also tune into the action via the Jio Cinema app.
(Edited by : Prakhar Sachdeo)
First Published: Apr 6, 2023 7:59 AM IST
