Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
How good is life for Kolkata Knight Riders? An elimination final at their beloved home of Eden Gardens, against a team I must admit I am surprised to see in the playoffs. Take nothing away from Rajasthan Royals though – they have done very well to make a successful late run to the elimination final, and looking at their performances compared to MI and RCB in the key final games, they deserve to be there. As has been the case all tournament, expected the unexpected!
Key to a Kolkata Knight Riders win
KKR enter the playoffs off the back of three straight wins, and possess a batting line up that can send shivers down the spine of any team. Chris Lynn has displayed excellent maturity in recent games, notching up four 20+ scores in a row, including 40+ in his last two innings. If he can stick solid with a fast starting Sunil Narine, a great platform is set for the middle order, which includes Andre Russell who is striking at nearly 190 in IPL 2018.
Also, how well will KKR’s bowlers hold up RR’s batting? A promising battle awaits.
Key to a Rajasthan Royals win
RR’s wristspinners were superb in dismantling RCB, which put them in a good position to qualify. Qualify they did, and once again Shreyas Gopal (who took 4/16!) and Ish Sodhi, who combined for 5/47 off eight overs against RCB, will be key. Also, Heinrich Klaasen will want to build on his excellent keeping.
However, expect KKR to pose a greater challenge than RCB, so RR’s bowlers need to be on point.
Also, Rahul Tripathi was excellent for RR in the absence of Jos Buttler, helping set up a match winning score for his team on a slow pitch. He is key along with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane (who continues to fight for form), Sanju Samson and Heinrich Klaasen. Expect Jofra Archer to stay away from the top order!
Possible teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders XI: 1. Chris Lynn, 2. Sunil Narine, 3. Robin Uthappa, 4. Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), 5. Andre Russell, 6. Nitish Rana, 7. Shubman Gill, 8. Javon Searles, 9. Piyush Chawla, 10. Prasidh Krishna, 11. Kuldeep Yadav
Rajasthan Royals XI: 1. Ajinkya Rahane (c), 2. Rahul Tripathi, 3. Sanju Samson, 4. Heinrich Klaasen, 5. K Gowtham, 6. Jofra Archer, 7. Shreyas Gopal, 8. Stuart Binny, 9. Ish Sodhi, 10. Jaydev Unadkat, 11. Ben Laughlin
Stats and Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches 17, KKR 8, RR 9
- KKR won the 49th match of IPL 2018 against RR by six wickets after dismissing them for 142.
- Sunil Narine needs two wickets to reach 50 IPL wickets at Eden Gardens. Only Lasith Malinga has reached at least fifty wickets at one ground (58 at Wankhede).
- KKR have beaten RR in five of six matches at Eden Gardens.
- The winner of this game will play Qualifier 2 v SRH on Friday.
Prediction:
The fear I have with RR is will they still be able to cope with the loss of Buttler? RCB weren’t able to test them, but I know KKR will.
KKR at home look a good team and I back them to win here.
