The 28th match of the tournament is going to be played at Sharjah between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
In this tournament, KKR as well as RCB have won 4 out of the 6 matches they have played.
Match Details
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RR)
Match 28 - IPL 2020, 18:00 Local time, 19:30 IST.
Television Broadcast India: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports Select, and Star Sports Select HD
Live Streaming: Disney+Hotstar
Head to Head
Overall, twenty-four matches have been played between these teams wherein KKR has a winning record against RR.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have won 14 matches whereas the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have won 10 matches.
In the last four meetings between them, KKR have won 3 out of the 4 matches.
Squads
Top Players in KKR & RCB
KKR:
A Russell: He got out early in the previous match against KXIP and hasn't been as effective as he usually is in IPL. He has played a few quickfire cameos in the season but none of his innings have been match defining. The good thing for KKR is that even even without him performing well, KKR have had good results.
D Karthik: He finally got back into form in the match against KXIP wherein he scored 58 runs of 29 balls. He was declared Man of the Match for this performance of his. Before this match, apart from his performance in the first match, he had looked out of form. It is a very tricky situation for a captain to be in when he is not performing as a player alone.
S Narine: He picked up two wickets and gave away 28 runs against KXIP. Slowly but surely his bowling form is coming back. His bowling was also instrumental against CSK when he gave away only 8 runs in his first two overs, which got things back in control for KKR then. Kohli versus Narine would be an interesting dual to see.
S Gill: He, along with his captain, scored a fifty in the match against KXIP. He already has won two Man of the Match awards in this edition of the IPL. Although he has been among the scorers, his strike rate is still slightly poor. He needs to improve upon it in the future to be more effective in the shortest version of the game.
RCB:
V Kohli: The Run Machine - V Kohli is back to his consistent best. He played supremely well against CSK to score 90* runs of 52 balls. Ever since he scored the match winning runs against MI, he has been in stellar form. Against KKR, Kohli has scored 674 runs at an average of 37.44 and a strike rate of 131.64!
AB de Villiers: While Kohli has returned to form, AB for some reason has failed to score runs in the previous two games. In the initial few matches he was in excellent form. KKR might just face the barrage of AB as champion players are bound to come back. Against KKR, he has scored 262 runs at an average of 27.84 and a strike rate of 139.231
A Finch: Finch has failed to score runs in three consecutive matches now. As long as they are winning as a team, such performances get sidelined. Had they been losing these matches, he might have been out of the side already. He needs to pull his weight in the future to retain his side. Finch for some reason has never succeeded in IPL - his international T20 record is much better than his IPL record. Overall, he has been inconsistent when it comes to scoring runs against KKR but his strike rate is an impressive 144.82!
Y Chahal: He was attacked in the previous match against CSK as well as in the match before that against DC. He hasn't particularly enjoyed bowling against KKR either. He has picked up 11 wickets but at an average of 37. Also, his economy against them is 8.47. A quality bowler that he is, it shouldn't be too long before he returns to his best.
D Padikkal: There is no stopping this kid! He has scored 211 runs at an average of 35.16 and a strike rate of 124.85! This is his debut season at the IPL but, the confidence with which he has played so far makes him look like a seasoned player. He hasn't looked as comfortable against the spin as he is against the fast bowlers. KKR might therefore deploy Narine against him.
Likely Playing 11
Other Players Who Can Make an Impact
W Sundar(RCB): He has been splendid with the ball in the power-play overs. It would be an exciting battle between the KKR openers and this skilled bowler. Not to forget, he is second in the list of most economical bowlers this year!
On Paper and based on form, RCB is the preferred favourite in this match. Although KKR have won the last two matches, they didn't win the match convincingly.
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