When the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last won in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), many expected them to continue their brilliant form. However, since then, they have won just one game, losing the remaining four matches and dropping to eighth position.
Heading to Bengaluru for their second game against RCB, who will be desperate to shrug off the overdependence on their top three batters when the two teams clash in the IPL on Wednesday, April 26.
RCB will be high on confidence heading into this game after pushing aside the in-form Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their last match. Faf du Plessis's men have won four of their last seven games, including their last two, and find themselves just outside of the top four in fifth spot.
Bangalore's wins have come on the back of sensational performers by only a few of their players. Du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. The trio have been in sublime form and have raised several century stands with each other.
Such is the dependence on the three that only they are doing the bulk of the scoring while the other batters have failed to fire. More is expected from the middle order of Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomlor, Shahbaz Ahmed and Suyash Prabhudessai.
Among bowlers, Mohammed Siraj has been in sensational form. The Purple Cap holder has conceded at 7.17 runs per over and has bowled the most dot balls — 89 in IPL 2023.
Siraj is being ably supported by Wayne Parnell and Harshal Patel. The addition of Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has also done wonders for the previously struggling RCB bowling unit.
For the away side, a lot of their losses can largely be pegged down to the inconsistency of the KKR batters. They really miss their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer as well as their star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan. In the 49-run loss against CSK on Sunday, April 25, the home side's batters were expected to rise to the occasion while chasing a 230-plus score, but instead, the top-order of Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and N Jagadeesan crumbled under the pressure.
Had it not been for Roy and Rinku Singh's fifties the margin of defeat would have been worse. The duo's performance is the silver lining in an otherwise dismal show against CSK.
The big-hitting Andre Russell has also failed miserably in his role as the finisher. He hasn't been able to hit the big shots and the fact that KKR sends him at number seven or eight has not been helpful. The all-rounder's fitness is also a concern. He hasn't bowled his quota of four overs even once this season as he often gets injured while bowling.
But KKR will walk into the game with a slight psychological edge, having defeated RCB by 81 runs earlier in IPL 2023. RCB were undone by KKR spinners earlier this season and they will have to be a bit cautious while playing the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma and Narine. The two-time champions have looked clueless in their last four outings, losing at home while also on the road. The Nitish Rana-led side is currently in seventh spot with just two wins from seven games.
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Faf du Plessis (c), Akash Deep, Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Avinash Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Michael Bracewell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Siddarth Kaul, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajan Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma, Sonu Yadav, Vijaykumar Vyshak, David Willey.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Nitish Rana (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Jason Roy.
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(With PTI Inputs)
