Cricket Indian Premier League Prediction

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals - Match Preview

🏏 11 May 2023 - 18:00 GMT +0

A chance to move as high as number three beckons for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) when they face off in match N56 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) competition at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Both teams are stuck at ten points from 11 matches, although it’s the Royals who have a healthier net run rate (+0.388 vs -0.079).

The Knight Riders may not be worrying too much about the run rate so long as they continue to eke out last-over thrillers. A batting heist from Andre Russell and Rinku Singh helped them to a last-ball five-wicket win over Delhi Capitals last time out, making it their third victory out of five this season that came in the last over. Regardless, they now have the tailwind of three wins out of the last four as they get ready for two of their last three matches to be played at this venue.

Home comforts could be crucial to their playoff chances, at least in this match, as Kolkata have won six of the previous nine completed H2Hs at this venue. The big hits are going to entertain the crowd as the Knight Riders have hit a league-high 9.64 sixes per match in this campaign, and have gone above that average in six of their last nine matches.

Breaching the Royals’ bowling could be a challenge, though, as the visitors have conceded a league-low 6.27 sixes per game this season, although two of the last three have seen them concede at least ten. Captain Sanju Samson wouldn’t mind seeing more sixes being hit off his bowlers as long as they get back on track with the results. Five defeats over the last six matches have put them in a tight spot, almost evaporating the benefits of a bright start that landed four victories off the first five.

The morale of the bowlers would be under question as they failed to defend 41 runs off the last two overs in the last match, two runs shy of the T20 record of 43. On the whole, bowling remains a worry as their decline coincided with their inability to defend targets. The Royals have failed to defend scores of 212 and 214 in two of their last three matches, highlighting their soft underbelly.

⚡ Players to watch: Kolkata’s Nitish Rana has gone past 22 in just one of his last nine matches against the Royals, although it came in the most recent match. The visiting spinner Ravichandran Ashwin doesn’t quite enjoy coming here as he failed to take a wicket in five of his last seven IPL matches here, conceding ten runs per over on three occasions. Coming up against Rana could be detrimental to his hopes of reducing that run rate, as the H2H record reads: 99/0 in seven innings off 52 balls at 11.42rpo (6x4 7x6).

📋 Stat attack: Despite the last two first innings at this venue is 179 each, the average first innings score here in IPL 2023 is a tournament-high 205.

• The pre-match favourites have failed to win eight of the 11 IPL 2023 matches featuring Kolkata Knight Riders.
• Kolkata have scored the highest powerplay runs in just two of their last 11 matches.
• On the contrary, Rajasthan has scored the highest powerplay runs in eight of their last 11 matches.
• Nine of Rajasthan’s 12 H2H wins have come while setting a target.
• Yashasvi Jaiswal strikes at the rate of 9.97rpo in the powerplays this season.
• A spinner ended with the best figures (wickets followed by the economy) for Rajasthan in eight of their 11 IPL 2023 matches.
• Jos Buttler vs Andre Russell in the IPL: 32/1 in four innings off 16 balls (3x4 2x6).
• Yuzvendra Chahal with the ball against Andre Russell in the IPL: 80/1 off 37 balls in six innings at 12.97rpo (7x4 6x6).