Preview
Kolkata Knight Riders come off the back of some traumatizing games where they went from favourites to nail down the fourth play-off spot to least favourites to even manage a top 5 finish. Their fortunes have hinged too much on Andre Russell in the past and with the all-rounder injured, their season has gone awry.
Not much is different for Rajasthan Royals themselves who have been saved by some late individual brilliance from Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. They have chased down two high totals in back to back games against formidable opponents and are banked upon to win this one. However, they will still need to win by a massive margin to ensure they qualify, even then still hoping for other results to go their way.
Team news and predicted XI
RR are expected to change a bit for this game with Varun Aaron likely to sit out for Akash Singh or Jaydev Unadkat ,if they want the experience. On the batting front, Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia have had less to do but will likely to remain an integral part of the lower middle-order.
KKR, on the other hand, might try Siddharth Lad now that their season is going nowhere. Andre Russell might also be risked one last time to see if they can outgun Rajasthan and then have other results going their way.
Predicted XIs
Rajasthan Royals
Ben Stokes, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Siddhesh Lad, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
Fantasy tips
- While Shubman Gill and Steven Smith are decent picks, it is safer to not captain them as they have been unpredictable. Ben Stokes, with his all-round potential, is the best choice for captain.
- Jofra Archer is the obvious second choice for captain, but I am banking on another Sanju Samson special against a less than impressive KKR attack. Archer can be made the vice-captain too
- Ben Stokes, Archer, Rana, Morgan, Lockie and and Gill are must picks for this game.
- Cummins and Kartik Tyagi, despite his poor spells of late, are good picks especially with the latter picking wickets regularly.
- KKR have a way to tackle spinners and it’s safe not to rely on either of Rajasthan’s leggies.
Fantasy XI
Sanju Samson
Jos Buttler
Steven Smith
Eoin Morgan
Nitish Rana
Shubman Gill
Ben Stokes
Jofra Archer
Pat Cummins
Lockie Ferguson
Kartik Tyagi
