Dubai: With a hope to seal a place in the playoffs, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will play the final game on the final double-header day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they square off at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (November 1).
KKR are coming into this game on the back of their last-ball defeat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). On the other hand, RR will be approaching this game following their seven-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
KKR and RR have played 13 matches each and have the same win-loss ratio of 6:7. KKR though is marginally ahead of RR on the basis of the net run-rate.
In their last meeting this season, KKR had come out on top, beating RR by 37 runs. While KKR will be looking to secure another win against Steve Smith and Co, RR will be seeking to complete a hat-trick of wins. As both the teams need a much-needed win to keep alive the playoff hopes, here are the players who could make a difference to the outcome of the match.
Nitish Rana has two fifty-plus scores in his four outings with the bat. While the left-hander scored a match-winning 81 against Delhi Capitals, he scored 87 in KKR’s last game against CSK. The left-hander is expected to open the batting once again and if he comes good with the bat and lay a solid foundation for the likes of Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik, it will give KKR a chance to seal a much-needed win.
107* against Mumbai Indians, 50 and two wickets against KXIP. Ben Stokes hardly put a foot wrong and powered RR to two successive wins to keep alive their playoff hopes. He will once again be someone that RR will bank on against KKR. If the England all-rounder fires once again, RR will be in with a chance to come out on top against KKR.
While KKR lost their last game against CSK, Varun Chakravarthy, their team’s leading wicket-taker, put up another impressive show with the ball and scalped two wickets conceding just 20 runs. If the mystery spinner manages to hold his own against the likes of Stokes, Samson, Smith and Jos Buttler, KKR’s hopes of a win will get a boost.
While Stokes led RR’s charge, Sanju Samson played a perfect supporting act during his side’s twin wins, scoring 54* and 48 against MI and KXIP respectively. The stylish right-handed batsman will be expected to continue in the same vein as RR seek a win in their final league-stage match.
Jofra Archer is one of the finest pacers going around and he once again lived up to that tag, scalping two wickets and conceding just 26 runs in his four overs against KXIP. If the right-arm pacer, who has 19 wickets to his name, manages to continue his fine show with the ball, it will bolster RR’s chances to seal a win.
He walked out to bat in the 18th over during the game against CSK but Dinesh Karthik scored a quickfire 21* off 10 deliveries to push KKR past 170. KKR will hope that their wicketkeeper-batsman enjoys another such outing where he scores big runs at a brisk pace.
KKR at this venue has played 3, won 1, lost 2. RR at this venue: played 6, won 1, lost 5. Few approaching achievements by KKR and RR are: Shubham Gill needs 7 runs to complete 1000 IPL runs, Nitish Rana requires 63 runs to complete 1500 IPL runs, Ben Stokes needs 98 runs to complete 1000 IPL runs, Jofra Archer is 5 wickets away from completing 50 IPL wickets.
The Squads:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (WK), Shivam Mavi, Tom Banton, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Eoin Morgan (C), Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Nikhil Naik, Manimaran Siddharth, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Shubman Gill, Nitesh Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Chris Green, Rahul Tripathi.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler (WK), Steven Smith (C), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot, David Miller, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Varun Aaron, Aniruddha Joshi, Manan Vohra, Andrew Tye, Shashank Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Mayank Markande, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh.
