Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

IPL 2020 Match 28: RCB vs KKR Preview Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | RCB vs KKR Dream11 Prediction | Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders Key Players | Sharjah Pitch Report

After the highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, attention turns to another top four clash, this time between a two-time IPL winner and a franchise pushing hard to break their IPL duck.

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign continues to pick up momentum, with their latest success an impressive and dominant win over Chennai Super Kings. Led by the magnificent Virat Kohli, who was a deamon between the wickets, RCB’s score of 169 in Dubai was way too good for CSK, as Chris Morris marked his RCB debut with an excellent 3/19. Now, the challenge will be contain a powerful opponent at the high-scoring Sharjah, which will be a test of RCB’s progress and credentials.

However, that opponent, Kolkata Knight Riders, have their concerns. Andre Russell, KKR’s star all-rounder, aggravated a knee injury when attempting a catch against KXIP, and could miss this game as a result. Sunil Narine, the man who orchestrated a heist in the same game, was reported for a suspect action and is on the brink from being banned from the bowling altogether if he errs again.

However, Dinesh Karthik’s men have shown they can win from difficult positions in IPL 2020. If Russell does miss out, they can look to bring in the exciting Tom Banton, who will be a danger man at Sharjah. The likes of Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill and most recently, Karthik himself, have been in the runs. So, the question is can KKR’s bowlers limit RCB’s strong top order on a ground where runs can flow at a rapid rate?

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

• Chris Morris labelled Virat Kohli a genius after Kohli’s knock vs CSK. The RCB captain can never be written off. After a slow start to IPL 2020 (18 runs in three innings), Kohli has bounced back with 205 runs in his next three matches, with just one dismissal. In even better news for RCB, Kohli has the most runs in the history of RCB-KKR matches, with 674 at an average of 35.47 (SR 130.67).
• In fact, Kohli’s recent numbers against KKR are even better (his last three scores vs KKR are 100, 84 and 68).
• AB de Villiers has the second-most runs in RCB-KKR matches out of the current players in both squads (315). ABD’s poor record vs CSK continued last game, and doesn’t have the greatest of records against KKR either (avg. 26.25). However, de Villiers remains a huge threat at the batting paradise that is Sharjah.
• KKR would be hoping that Andre Russell is fit enough to play this game. If he is, they will have a player who has a magnificent batting record vs RCB: 8 matches, 292 runs, avg. 58.40, SR 229.92. In IPL 2019, Russell slammed 65 (25) and 48 (13) vs RCB.
• If Russell doesn’t play, then Shubman Gill has an important role to play in setting up a strong platform. He is coming off 57 vs KXIP, part of 220 runs in IPL 2020 at an average of 44.00. As an IPL opener, Gill has 456 runs in 12 innings at an average of 45.60 (SR 128.09).
• Nitish Rana struck 58 (35) in KKR’s only match at Sharjah so far in IPL 2020. Also, Rana has an excellent record for KKR vs RCB: 4 matches, 171 runs, avg. 85.50, SR 164.42. Rana hit 85* (46) and 37 (23) vs RCB last season.
• Rahul Tripathi has enjoyed a strong start to his IPL 2020 campaign (including 36 off 16 balls down the order at Sharjah). Also, Tripathi has a magnificent record vs RCB: 5 matches, 196 runs, avg. 98.00, SR 143.07.
• Devdutt Padikkal wasn’t at his fluent best last game vs CSK, but still possesses strong numbers in IPL 2020 (6 inns, 211 runs, avg. 35.16). He will be key today for RCB at the top.
• Dinesh Karthik stormed back into form last game vs KXIP with 58 (29). Can he build on that knock today, against a side whom he has a modest record against? (21 inns vs RCB, 414 runs, avg. 23.00, SR 121.41).
• Eoin Morgan has an even more modest record vs RCB (5 inns, 43 runs, avg. 10.75, SR 104.88). However, Morgan has been threatening to find his best form in recent games, with his last five scores reading: 42* (29), 34* (23), 44 (18), 7 (10) and 24 (23). His 44 (18) came at Sharjah vs DC.
• Sunil Narine enjoys playing RCB. He has 194 runs for KKR vs RCB, at a magnificent strike rate of 200 (avg. 32.33). Also, he has 16 wickets in 13 games against them (the second-most by any bowler in RCB-KKR matches), at an average of 21.94 and SR 6.75.
• Yuzvendra Chahal has the next-highest number of wickets in RCB-KKR among the current players in both squads (11 in 12 matches). How well will the leg-spinning genius cope with the small boundaries of Sharjah?
• Chris Morris enjoyed a superb debut for RCB, taking 3/19 vs CSK. He will be crucial at the death, where he is capable of taking wickets. The same applies to Isuru Udana, who has six wickets in four games so far in IPL 2020.
• Prasidh Krishna will have the role of death bowler for KKR. He was outstanding vs KXIP, helping his team pull of a heist (3/29).

Stats and Facts

• Head-to-head: Matches 25, RCB 10, KKR 15. KKR have won five of the past six matches vs RCB.
• Pat Cummins is wicketless in his last three games. However, he has shown encouraging signs in the powerplay, which makes his battle vs Padikkal and Finch crucial to KKR’s chances.
• Could KKR look to bring in Kuldeep Yadav to target Finch? The RCB opener has been dismissed by Kuldeep four times in six innings across all T20s (average of 6.3).
• RCB could leave Yuzvendra Chahal for Eoin Morgan, and get him to slow his speeds. Morgan averages just 5.70 vs spin deliveries under 90km/h in IPL 2020.
• AB de Villiers averages 53 when RCB bat first in IPL 2020, compared to only 24.55 while chasing.

Possible Playing 11

Royal Challengers Bangalore should look to stick with their winning combination. Eyes will be on Aaron Finch, who is going through a bit of a poor patch (21 runs in his last three knocks).

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1. Aaron Finch, 2. Devdutt Padikkal, 3. Virat Kohli (c), 4. AB de Villiers (wk), 5. Gurkeerat Singh Mann, 6. Shivam Dube, 7. Washington Sundar, 8. Chris Morris, 9. Isuru Udana, 10. Navdeep Saini, 11. Yuzvendra Chahal

If Andre Russell is not fit enough to play, KKR could bring in Tom Banton, with the hard-hitting batsman impressing in BBL, Vitality Blast and T20Is so far. If Banton does play, it will be interesting to see if KKR bat him higher up the order as that is where he is suited.

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1. Shubman Gill, 2. Rahul Tripathi, 3. Nitish Rana, 4. Tom Banton/Andre Russell, 5. Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), 6. Eoin Morgan, 7. Sunil Narine, 8. Pat Cummins, 9. Kamlesh Nagarkoti/Shivam Mavi, 10. Prasidh Krishna, 11. Varun Chakravarthy

Sharjah Pitch and Weather Report

Interestingly, the last three innings have been below 200 at Sharjah (174 by SRH, 184 by DC and 138 by RR). However, batting conditions are still superb at this ground, with short boundaries favouring batsmen. The big-hitters on show in both sides suggests a high-scoring game is in the offing.

The average first innings score at Sharjah remains a high 211.8, with the team batting first winning four of five matches at the ground. So, even with dew around, the team who wins the toss could look to bat.

Dream11 Prediction (assuming Russell does not play)

Option 1:

Option 2:

Match Prediction

An intriguing match awaits us. If Andre Russell is unavailable, this could give an edge to RCB as Russell has a superb record against them. Also, the result could depend on whether the team batting first can muster a score of 210+, as both sides possess power.

Thanks reading!