Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Barsapara Cricket Stadium- 7:30 PM
What to expect
An intense affair awaits. Both teams have lost their first games of the season, and they’ll be eager to secure two points from this clash. The spotlight will be on the battle between RR’s batters and KKR’s spinners. In their previous outing, RR’s bowlers leaked runs, leaving the batters with too much to chase despite their valiant efforts. Bowling remains RR’s weaker suit, and they must tighten up to avoid another high-scoring setback.
This is where Riyan Parag’s role as captain becomes important. He is young, but he knows the conditions in Barsapara better than anyone else. RR’s batters have shown that they can play spin well. So, their performance against KKR’s spinners could well define the game.
Jofra Archer and the rest of RR’s bowling unit need to bounce back from the pounding that they took in the last game. Meanwhile, KKR’s batting lineup, despite a mini-collapse against RCB, has enough firepower to trouble any attack. It promises to be an intense encounter with two crucial points up for grabs.
Key Battle
The battle between Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine against Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, and Dhruv Jurel promises to be a fascinating contest. Apart from Shimron Hetmyer, the rest of RR’s top six are proficient against spin. If they can score freely against KKR’s spin duo, handling the rest of the bowling attack could become much easier.
RR Likely XI
Mahesh Theekshana looked wayward in the last game, and so did Jofra Archer, but both are likely to retain their places. Wanindu Hasaranga could be drafted into the team, depending on the conditions. Kumar Kartikeya is another enticing option.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag (c), Nitish Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi. Impact sub- Sanju Samson.
KKR Likely XI
After a disappointing outing, KKR could bring in Anrich Nortje for this game, replacing Spencer Johnson. Apart from that, no other changes are expected in the playing XI.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson/Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy. Impact sub- Vaibhav Arora.
Pitch and Weather
With this being the first game of the season at this venue, how the pitch will play is anyone’s guess. Historically, it has been a high-scoring ground where batters enjoy their time in the middle. Bowlers are unlikely to get much assistance. The chances of rain playing spoilsport remain low at four percent.