Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Kolkata Knight Riders are currently at the fourth position in the league table with ten points in nine matches so far. The win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the super over has given confidence to the side. A win against Royal Challengers Bangalore will certainly give them an edge to qualify for the playoffs this season.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore have won six matches so far out of a total of nine. They are currently situated in the third position in the league table. A win in this encounter will see them at the top two positions in the league table.
Pitch Report:
The pitch at Abu Dhabi is slightly favouring the fast bowlers. There’s no real spin in this wicket. Kolkata Knight Riders have already played quite a few matches in this ground. So they will be better accustomed to the conditions. Both sides will prefer to bat first as the batting first side is getting a slight advantage in this tournament.
Head To Head Record:
Total Matches Played: 25
Kolkata Knight Riders Won: 14
Royal Challengers Bangalore Won: 11
Predicted Starting XI; Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy.
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, AB De Villiers, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Yuzi Chahal, Navdeep Saini, , Isuru Udana.
Key Players:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Shubhman Gill
Lockie Ferguson
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Virat Kohli
AB De Villiers
Captain And Vice-Captain Selection:
Captain Choices: Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli
Vice-Captain Choices: Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris
Probable Winner: Royal Challengers Bangalore
KKR has brought in Lockie Ferguson in place of Chris Green in the previous match. Lockie Ferguson has produced a brilliant performance in his first match of the tournament. Ferguson has taken three wickets with conceding only 15 runs in his 4 overs spell. Lockie Ferguson has also bowled the super over. He has conceded only two runs and taken two wickets of David Warner and Abdul Samad in the Super over.
He has helped KKR to establish a four-point lead over Sunrisers Hyderabad. Pat Cummins has also picked up a wicket in this match. The only concern of KKR will be the form of Andre Russell. There is a doubt over Andre Russell’s availability in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The all-rounder has picked up a hamstring injury in the previous match. Sunil Narine has been available again for Kolkata Knight Riders as he is removed from the suspect bowling action list by the committee. So, he might come in place of Andre Russell in the starting XI.
Royal Challengers Bangalore might play with an unchanged starting XI. Shivam Dube might come in place of Shahbaz Ahmed in this match to give them much stability in the batting order.
