Khulna Titans vs Rajshahi Kings, Bangladesh Premier League 2019, Today Match Prediction 09 Jan 2019

khut vs rajk Match Prediction & Analysis

The 8th game of the Bangladesh Premier League between Khulna Titans and Rajshahi Kings is expected to be a closely fought one. Both the sides are yet to win a game in the season with the Titans having lost both their games so far.

Their last loss against the Dhaka Dynamites was a humiliating one. Rajshahi too suffered defeat against the Dynamites in the first game where their bowlers struggled and the batsmen failed due to scoreboard pressure. 

The upcoming game promises to be an interesting one as both the sides would be looking forward to earning their first points of the season. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Khulna Titans Preview

Khulna Titans had a great season last year but they have begun on a sore note this season losing out their first two games against Rangpur Riders and Dhaka Dynamites. 

They had a miserable outing against Dynamites in their last game bundling up for more 87 runs. Apart from Junaid Siddiqui who played well in the first game as well none of their batsmen were able to stand their ground. But they are a better batting side than this as Paul Stirling their opener showed in the first game. The side would want the likes of Mahmudullah, Jahurul Islam and Nazmul Hossain Shanto to play with more responsibility in the upcoming game. 

The bowlers have been miserable in both the games so far conceding far too many runs and failing to make use of the pitch. Taijul Islam and David Wiese have looked good on occasion but Shariful Islam, Ali Khan and the skipper Mahmudullah have been spraying too many loose balls. They will need to come up with a better show in the next game.

Khulna Titans Predicted Playing XI:

Paul Stirling, Junaid Siddiqui, Jahurul Islam (wk), Mahmudullah (c), Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mahmudullah (c), Ariful Haque, David Wiese, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Zahir Khan, Ali Khan.

Rajshahi Kings Preview

They were blown away by the Dhaka Dynamites in their first game where their bowling was poor and the batting wretched and they will look to improve in the next game. 

Mehidy Hasan is leading one of the most promising sides of the tournament but the performance in the first game was disappointing. Apart from Mohammad Hafeez all other batsmen got out playing bad shots due to scoreboard pressure. In the upcoming game the team management would expect better performance from Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar and Laurie Evans with the bat. 

Despite of the fact that they have a strong bowling attack last game’s performance wasn’t up to the potential. Mohammad Hafeez and Mustafizur Rahman bowled well in the last game but skipper Mehidy Hassan had a bad day. In the next game he would need to bowl well along with Alauddin Babu and Qais Ahmad for the side to win it. They have a better bowling unit and they need to work this to their advantage. 

Rajshahi Kings Predicted Playing XI:

Mohammad Hafeez, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Laurie Evans, Zakir Hasan (wk), Christiaan Jonker, Mehidy Hasan (c), Alauddin Babu, Qais Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Mustafizur Rahman.

Weather Conditions

It is going to be a clear evening in Dhaka on January 09. The pitch is expected to be good for batting and the ball should come on to the bat easily. But dew is likely to play a factor in the second half of the game. 

Venue

The Shere Bangla National Stadium is known to be a ground for high scoring encounters and has already seen some in the season. Developed from a football ground it has short squares which makes it easy to score runs in that region. Being an evening game the track should assist the batsmen in both the innings. 

Toss: To Bowl

The team winning the toss should elect to bowl first. It’s an evening game and there should be dew during the second innings. Since both the sides have good number of spinners in their squad they won’t fancy bowling with a wet ball. A dry track early in the evening should assist the side bowling first.