IPL 2021 Phase 2 KKR vs RCB: Preview, head-to-head and sponsors

Phase 2 of the IPL 2021 started dramatically on Sunday as Chennai Super Kings won against Mumbai Indians by 20 runs. The 31st fixture of the IPL 2021 sees Kolkata Knight Riders face off against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi in the UAE at 7:30 PM IST.  

RCB has acquired the third place in the IPL standings with ten points in seven games. They will be looking to continue their form to maintain their spot in the top four of the table. The Bangalore-based franchise will heavily rely on the services of AB De Villiers, Glen Maxwell, and skipper Virat Kohli who will be key in propelling them to the knockout stages of the competition. The second phase of IPL 2021 will be Kohli’s last leg as RCB’s captain. The 32-year-old will go full-throttle to clinch the maiden IPL title for RCB in his last season as captain. 

KKR have currently occupied the seventh spot in the IPL standings so far with four points. The Knight riders had a below-par start to their IPL 2021 campaign earlier this year. Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan struggled to score runs consistently, while Andre Russell played a couple of counter-attacking innings which is a good sign for KKR. A victory in their first game of phase 2 will be a clinical start to an interesting season ahead.  

Head-to-Head: 

KKR and RCB have played against each other several times in what is always considered to be a close encounter. Both teams have faced each other 27 times where KKR has the upper hand with 14 wins while RCB registered victory on 13 occasions. 

In their last outing, RCB won the game by 38 runs back in phase 1 of the tournament. 

Team News:

Royal Challengers Bangalore – RCB will be missing the services of Washington Sundar due to injury but will have the rest of their squad at their disposal. 

Kolkata Knight Riders – KKR will be missing out on the English players in the latter part of the season. They will be also heading into this leg without Pat Cummins. 

TV and LIVE streaming details: 

TV- Star Sports Network 

OTT- Disney+ Hotstar 

Sponsors: 

Kolkata Knight Riders – The Principal sponsor of KKR is MPL 

Royal Challengers Bangalore – The Principal sponsors of RCB are DP World, Reliance JIO, and Exide