Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Indian Premier League (IPL), Today Match Prediction 07 Apr 2019

rr vs kkr Match Prediction & Analysis

Hosts Rajasthan Royals will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 21st game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Jaipur on Saturday.  Going into the match, Rajasthan have 2 points to their name in 4 matches, whereas Kolkata Knight Riders have 6 points in 4 matches. 

Rajasthan Royals comfortably brushed aside Royal Challengers Bangalore to register their first win of the competition. Captain Ajinkya Rahane will be hoping that the side can continue their good form with bat and ball against in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.

On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders notched up a comfortable victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore courtesy of splendid batting performances from Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell. Kolkata will aim for consistency with bat and ball in this game.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Rajasthan Royals Preview

For Rajasthan, it will be the case of building on their comfortable win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a game played on Tuesday.

In the batting department, the home side will be depending on the likes of captain Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson to help the team in producing competitive scores on the board.  Buttler has shown excellent form so far this season with 139 runs at an average of 34.75. Wicket-keeper batsman smashed 59 off 58 balls to help Rajasthan Royals notch up their first win of the competition.

Sanju Samson has been in scintillating form with the bat so far this season with 140 runs at an average of 70.00. Certainly, Royals will be hoping that Samson can be available for this game. Steven Smith and Rahul Tripathi also chipped in with crucial scores in the previous game played against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

All-rounder Ben Stokes is expected to play a bigger role with bat and ball for the franchise in this year’s competition. He has struggled to find form with bat and ball. Stokes will be keen to put in a good performance for Rajasthan in the next couple of matches.

In the bowling department, Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal was the standout bowler for Rajasthan Royals in their previous game. He bowled well and picked up big wickets of Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers.Krishnappa Gowtham, Dhawal Kulkarni and Jofra Archer also bowled well without much luck in terms of wickets.

Rajasthan Royals Predicted Playing XI:

Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny.

Rajasthan Royals Actual Playing XI:

Ajinkya Rahane, K Gowtham, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Chioke Archer, Prashant Chopra, Sudhesan Midhun, Jos Buttler, DS Kulkarni, S Gopal, RA Tripathi

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview

Dinesh Karthik led-unit notched up their third win of the competition after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets. Two-time Champions will be looking to continue their good form in this game.

In the batting department, Kolkata will be depending heavily on middle-order batsman Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana both of whom has already scored 146 and 169 runs at averages of 48.66 and 42.25 respectively. 

In the previous game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Uthappa and Rana chipped in with crucial score for Kolkata Knight Riders. Uthappa scored 33 off 25 balls with the help of six boundaries while Rana scored 37 runs off 23 balls.

The big positive to come out for Kolkata in the previous game was opening batsman Chris Lynn finding form with the bat. He certainly looked aggressive from the start and smashed 31-ball 43 balls to set the tone for Kolkata in the chase. However, the team management’s main cause of concern will be the performance of Captain and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, who so far has only managed to score 72 runs in four matches at an average of 24.

In the bowling department, the onus will be on the likes of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Kuldeep Yadav to produce breakthroughs with the ball in hand. So far, the spinners have failed to pick up wickets in the middle phase of the innings

Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Dinesh Karthik (captain), Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna.

Kolkata Knight Riders Actual Playing XI:

Sunil Narine, RV Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, Chris Lynn, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Piyush Chawla, Harry Gurney, Andre Russell

Weather Conditions

The pitch prepared for this game will be good for batting. Spinners rule the roost in the previous game played at this venue. The weather forecast for the game on Sunday is going to be partly cloudy.

Venue

Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur is going to host all the home fixtures for Rajasthan Royals in this year’s competition. Royals certainly have a good head-to-head against Kolkata Knight Riders at this venue. To add to that, Royals also won their previous game played at this venue.

Toss: To Bowl

The side that wins the toss would like to bowl first and restrict the opposition to a modest score. Spinners are expected to play a big role in this game and there will be plenty of assistance on offer from the surface. Batting second will be the way to go in this game.