Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals, Indian Premier League (IPL), Today Match Prediction 25 Apr 2019

kkr vs rr Match Prediction & Analysis

Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals will battle it out in the 43rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. 

Kolkata Knight Riders will be desperate to turn things around after losing five games in a row in the competition. Captain Dinesh Karthik will need to lead from the front and help Kolkata break their losing streak in this home fixture.

On the other hand, a defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders will send Royals packing as they will not have any hopes left of making it to the next round. Captain Ajinkya Rahane will be hoping that the side can play their best cricket in the remaining games of the competition.

In the previous meeting between the two teams, Kolkata Knight Riders produced a dominant display with bat and ball to beat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in Jaipur.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview

In their last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders struggled to get going in their innings and could only post 159 runs from their 20 overs. The team management will be concerned over the lack of form shown by the batting lineup in the last couple of games played in the competition.

Therefore, the side will be focused to put in an improved batting performance than they did in their previous match.  The side will be relying on the in-form opening batsman Chris Lynn, who has scored three half-centuries in his last six innings and has scored 264 runs in 9 matches at an average of 29.33.  Lynn certainly delivered a crucial half-century in the previous game to help Kolkata post a modest total on the board. He scored 51 off 47 balls with the help of four fours and held the innings together for Kolkata against Hyderabad.

Apart from Lynn, all-rounder Andre Russell is also having an excellent tournament with the bat with 392 runs at an average of 65.33. West Indies all-rounder certainly has delivered superlative batting performances to single-handedly win games for Kolkata in this year’s competition. The likes of Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik and Shubham Gill will need to produce runs for the side in this game. The trio has suffered from inconsistency with the bat and will need to raise their game in order to help Kolkata break their losing streak in the competition.

In the bowling department, the team management will have concerns going into this game as the spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla have failed to pick up wickets in the middle phase of the innings. The likes of Harry Gurney and Yarra Prithviraj will need to provide early breakthroughs for Kolkata in this game.

Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c &wk), Andre Russell, Shubham Gill, Yarra Prithviraj, Harry Gurney, Piyush Chawla, KC Cariappa

Kolkata Knight Riders Actual Playing XI:

Sunil Narine, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Chris Lynn, RK Singh, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Piyush Chawla, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite

Rajasthan Royals Preview

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals were comfortably brushed aside by Delhi Capitals in their previous game played at home. Ajinkya Rahane and co. will need to win all their remaining games in order to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the playoffs.

The team has been heavily reliant on the likes of Captain Ajinkya Rahane and star batsman Steven Smith to put most of the runs on the board. Rahane certainly played exceedingly well for the side in the previous game and scored unbeaten 105 off 63 balls with the help of eleven fours and three sixes. He is currently franchise’ leading run-scorer with 318 runs at an average of 35.33.

Steven Smith also played well in the previous game and scored 50 off 32 balls with the help of eight boundaries. He added 130-run partnership with Rahane to help Rajasthan post a daunting total on the board against Delhi Capitals.

Sanju Samson is another player that needs to produce a notable score for the side in this game. He has managed to score 239 runs in 8 innings at an average of 34.14 for Rajasthan Royals so far this season. Samson will be keen to make a strong comeback in this game after registering a duck in the previous game played against Delhi Capitals.

All-rounder Ben Stokes has been a big disappointment with bat and ball in this year’s competition. He hasn’t made a notable contribution so far this season and is averaging 22.40 with the bat. Stokes certainly needs to produce something special with bat in order to help Rajasthan get back to winning ways.

In the bowling department, the side will be depending on pacer Jofra Archer to deliver the goods just like he is doing for the franchise in the recent past with 11 wickets, and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal has also put in some impressive performances with 12 wickets so far in this year’s competition. Jaydev Unadkat and Dhawal Kulkarni have failed to make an impact so far this season.

Rajasthan Royals Predicted Playing XI:

Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Jofra Archer, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Ashton Turner, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Riyan Parag.

Rajasthan Royals Actual Playing XI:

Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, STR Binny, JD Unadkat, Jofra Chioke Archer, SV Samson, VR Aaron, S Gopal, Oshane Thomas, Riyan Parag

Weather Conditions

The pitch will be excellent for batting for this game. The bowlers will need to work hard to pick up wickets on this surface. The weather forecast for the game on Thursday is going to be clear skies.

Venue

Kolkata Knight Riders have lost their last three games played at Eden Gardens. The side will need to come up with something special to get back to winning ways at home. Kolkata will take heart from the fact they have won six games out of eight played against Rajasthan Royals at this venue.

Toss: