It’s the 45th match of the IPL and Kolkata Knight Riders will play host to Rising Pune Supergiants. Both teams have had contrasting performances in the league. Where KKR have maintained a place in the top 4 on most parts, RPS have been struggling in the bottom half on the points table.
It is very highly likely for the two-time champions KKR to finish in the top four. RPS, on the other hand, are out of the race for the playoff spot. They are currently placed at the bottom whereas KKR are at number four. A win would take them to one of the top two spots depending upon the net run rate at the end of the game.
The last time these two teams squared off against each other in Pune, turned out be a nail-biting finish. Batting first, RPS got to a total of 160 thanks to 67 runs from Ajinkya Rahane. KKR looked all set to win until a collapse hit their batting line-up. But luckily for them, Umesh Yadav hit the most important six of his life to win a last over thriller. Suryakumar Yadav top scored for them with 60.
The Match will be live from 20:00 IST, 2:30 GMT. Watch live streaming of KKR v/s RPS on www.starsports.com and www.hotstar.com. Mobile users can watch live streaming of KKR vs RPS on the Hotstar App. You can also watch the live telecast of KKR vs RPS on Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Max. The match will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
KKR have enjoyed a nice five days break after their last game. They needed that after the loss to GL. GL had literally outplayed KKR in all departments. First, the bowlers restricted KKR batting to 158 and then the batsmen chased it down having 2 overs in hand.
The loss had much to do with the rare failure of the opening duo of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. They have been providing excellent starts which were well carried forward by the middle order and then finished strongly by the big hitters. Yusuf Pathan is in a tremendous form in the last few games which is very good news for them. Shakib also contributed with the bat in the last game.
Andre Russell continues to be the most valuable player for them. He is well in the race for the purple cap with 14 wickets in 10 games. To go with that, he is batting at a strike rate of 157. Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan and Piyush Chawla have come good on most occasions which give them a strong chance to finish in the top 2.
RPS on the opposite have had a terrible start as a franchise. They have managed to win just 3 games out of 11 games so far, not what we are used to seeing with a team led by Dhoni. The team has been badly marred by the injuries to the top players earlier in the tournament and they have failed to recover from that.
Ajinkya Rahane continues to be the wolf in the pack. He is the only consistent batsman throughout the tournament for them. He has been amongst the top 5 run getters for the most part of the season and has notched up 6 half centuries, most by any batsman in the league. But he has lacked support. No one else has been able to match the standards achieved by him and thus, the team is languishing at the bottom.
Ravichandran Ashwin looked close to his natural bowling in the last game as he had the figures of 16/1 in the 4 overs. Not too many times was he given to complete his full quota of overs. They needed plenty more from their ace bowler. On occasions, other bowlers have done well but lacked consistency. Now they are in a nothing to lose situation and they would look to gain as much as they can to carry forward the confidence to the next season.
The match will be broadcasted live on SuperSport in Africa, Geo Super in Pakistan, Maasranga in Bangladesh, Set Max and Sony Six in Bhutan, ESPN in the US, and Sky Sports in the UK. The live streaming of the match can also be watched on CricketGateway.com in Australia.
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