In the 31st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata tonight, i.e., Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 PM IST.
It’s the battle of the top two in the IPL 2024, as the inaugural season winners take on the two-time IPL winners in an epic clash. The team that prevails will almost certainly increase its chances of qualifying for the playoffs as one of the top two teams.
KKR are playing their second game in three days, having defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by eight wickets. The Knights are generally comfortable at home, with batters scoring heavily and bowlers restraining opponents. Phil Salt, Shreyas Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and others have proven themselves with the bat, while Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakaravarthy have also been efficient with the ball. Notably, Sunil Narine has been outstanding with the ball in Kolkata, having yet to concede a four, however, he doesn’t seem to be effective as a batter thus far.
The Royals, on the other hand, are coming off two nail-biting finishes: one win and one loss. Nonetheless, the dressing room appears very relaxed. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, and Riyan Parag were decent to good in their last outing while Shimron Hetmyer gave it his all and helped RR win two points. Their main weakness is their inexperienced pace bowling, which the KKR batters can exploit to their fullest. It will be intriguing to watch if Sandeep Sharma takes charge for the evening or if Ravichandran Ashwin returns. The good news for the team is that Jos Buttler is almost certain to play, and at Eden Gardens, the batter can go all out from ball one.
Head-to-Head:
In the 28 times these two teams have faced off, Rajasthan has won 13 and the Knight Riders have won 14. RR defeated RR by nine wickets in their previous match, which happened last season.
Where-to-Watch:
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