IPL 2021 | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals- BONS preview, head to head, where to watch, and betting tips

10/07/2021

Kolkata Knight Riders will play against Rajasthan Royals in match no 54 of IPL 2021 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday, October 7. Kolkata Knight Riders won their last match by 6 wickets versus Sunrisers Hyderabad while Rajasthan Royals lost against Mumbai Indians by 8 wickets.

BONS Preview

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will lock horns with Rajasthan Royals (RR) eyeing their spot in the playoffs in IPL 2021. The chances of RR to qualify for the playoffs are very thin as they have the poorest run rate among the teams fighting for the top four spots.

KKR defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 6 wickets in their last match. The KKR bowlers displayed a great show with the ball, and restricted the opposition for a meagre score of 115. Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, and Varun Chakravarthy restricted the run flow and picked two wickets each. KKR chased the target of 115 courtesy to Shubhman Gill’s 57 off 51 balls. Gill scoring runs and returning to form is good news for the Kolkata-based franchise. He will play a pivotal role for KKR in the upcoming matches. The Eoin Morgan-led side should also give Shakib a regular place in the team as he contributes with the bat and ball.

Rajasthan Royals lost their last match against Mumbai Indians (MI) in a very disappointing manner. Batting first, RR ended up on a mere total of 90 runs. The chase was too easy for MI and they did it in 8.2 overs. The lack of consistency in batting is still an unsolved issue for the Rajasthan-based franchise. The RR batting unit will have to unleash themselves in the fixture to defeat KKR.

Form Guide

Kolkata Knight Riders - W L W L W

Three wins from the last five games is an average record and KKR still have some areas to take care of. Dinesh Karthik or Eoin Morgan have to take up the finishing role for the Kolkata-based franchise in the absence of Andre Russell.

Rajasthan Royals - L W L L L

Just one victory from the last five games is a very poor record and that resulted in RR's drop down to the seventh spot on the points table. The inconsistency of the middle order batsmen is a major concern for the Sanju Samson-led side.

Head to head

Both teams have played 24 matches against each other. 12 were won by KKR while RR won on 11 occasions. One match ended in no result. Both teams have an average score of 147 against each other.

Karthik has scored 258 runs against RR while Sanju Samson has scored 247 runs versus KKR. Sunil Narine has picked 10 wickets against RR.

BONS Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted XI

Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy

BONS Rajasthan Royals Predicted XI

Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Kuldip Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Shreyas Gopal, Mustafizur Rahman

BONS Match Prediction

With Shubhman Gill back in form, KKR’s top four in the batting order looks strong. Also, the duo of mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine makes them favourites in the contest.

Pitch Report

Sharjah Cricket Stadium has been the most difficult pitch to bat on in the second leg of the tournament. Another low-scoring encounter is on the cards. Power hitting wouldn’t be very useful here, but the batsmen who show patience and temperament might be able to score runs. The team winning the toss should opt to bowl first and make use of the bowling-friendly conditions.

Match info

Match - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2021 Match 54

Date - 7 October 2021

Time - 7:30 PM IST

Venue - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah