Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Indian Premier League 2020, Today Match Prediction 21 Oct 2020

kkr vs rcb Match Prediction & Analysis

The 39th game of the IPL 2020 between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore would be a very important one for both the sides. The Kolkata Knight Riders won their last game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but their last three victories haven’t been convincing which is a worry for the side. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the last game against the Rajasthan Royals convincingly and they have an in-form batting line-up going into the game.  

Kolkata Knight Riders have several issues bothering them as some of their key players haven’t performed up to the expectations this season. Their bowling attack also lacks depth as we have seen so far. Royal Challengers are looking one of the best side midway through the season. But KKR is blessed to have powerful hitters and this would make this game exciting. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview

Eoin Morgan would be a relieved man after his side won the last game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad which went into the Super Over. They nearly threw away the game leaking 39 runs in the last overs. With this win the side has now moved to the 4th spot on the points table and shall be eager for a win. They had lost to the RCB earlier in the season and shall want to even it out in this game. 

Openers Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill did well in the last game and shall look to continue with their form. Nitish Rana and Morgan also did well but the side will need a big knock from one in the Top 4 as they are throwing away their starts. Andre Russell’s extended poor form has now turned into a big headache for the side and he will need to deliver in this game. In Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins they have good batting firepower down the order. 

Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy have bowled well in the tournament so far and the side would be expecting early wickets from them in this game. Lockie Ferguson bowled a match winning spell in the last game and his pace adds strength to this bowling attack. The likes of Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav and Russell have been inconsistent and they need to make contributions with the ball for KKR to overcome the big hurdle against RCB. 

Top Batsman – Shubman Gill     
Top Bowler – Pat Cummins 

Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Eoin Morgan (c), Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy

Kolkata Knight Riders Actual Playing XI:

Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, RA Tripathi, Tom Banton

Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview

RCB’s batting prowess has always been admired and they showed their abilities in the last game against the Rajasthan Royals where side snatched a win from the jaws of defeat. Kohli is finally seeing his dreams getting fulfilled in the IPL as this has been a season of positive news for the side. Kohli would want to continue with the same momentum as he goes into the next game. 

They have a settled opening pair in Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch and both these players have the ability to take on the KKR bowling attack. Virat Kohli has hit a purple patch and along with AB de Villiers forms a very strong middle order for the side. Washington Sundar, Gurkeerat Singh and Chris Morris with their batting skills add power to this batting line-up. 

Though the side hasn’t had the best of season with the ball Sundar and Morris have bowled well in the last couple of games and the team would look at a similar start from them. Yuzvendra Chahal has had a great season so far and along with Isuru Udana, Shahbaz Ahmed and Navdeep Saini shall look to keep the struggling KKR batsmen quite during the middle overs. 

Best Batsman – Virat Kohli      
Best Bowler – Yuzvendra Chahal
 

Royal Challengers Bangalore Predicted Playing XI:

Virat Kohli (c), Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal

Royal Challengers Bangalore Actual Playing XI:

Mohammed Siraj, YS Chahal, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikal, Aaron Finch, Washington Sundar, NA Saini, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Virat Kohli, GR Singh Mann

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It will be a hot and humid evening at Abu Dhabi on October 21 and the batsmen would enjoy batting on this surface. Bowlers have struggled in the last few games here as there isn’t much on the surface for them. The side that bats first will have to eye a score in the range of 170-180 runs to feel comfortable with not much support for the bowlers. 
 

Venue Details

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi has a large outfield and hence clearing the fence isn’t easy here. However the fast outfield does offer plenty of boundary scoring opportunities for the batsmen. Fast bowlers who can vary their line and length have done well at this venue though the spinners have been more successful thanks to the slowness in the surface. 

Toss: To Bat

There is bit of slowness on the surface as we have seen in the last few games here given the number of games that have been played on this track. However the pitch is best to bat on in the early overs and chasing a score here is slightly difficult. Hence we believe the side that wins the toss in this game is likely to opt for batting first on this surface.