IPL 2018, KKR v RR: 5 players battles to look forward to

After three back to back wins, Rajasthan Royals now find themselves in 4th place in the table and with a real chance of making it to the playoffs. Tonight they will take on third-placed Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens and it is going to be a crunch game that could ultimately have a big say on how the table shapes up. RR have been in excellent form and their batting has been propelled by opening batsman Jos Buttler, who has been in incredible form over the past 5 games.

What makes tonight’s game such a crucial one is that both teams have played 12 games each and won 6, which is why the winner of tonight’s game would be a great position to seal a place in the playoffs. The game would eventually be decided by the high voltage individual battles that will take place tonight between the players from either side and here is a look at 5 of the most important ones.

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#5 Piyush Chawla v Ben Stokes

He was the man of the tournament last year as Rising Pune Supergiants made it to the final of the IPL but in 2018, Ben Stokes has struggled with the bat and his problems against spin have been exposed by quite a few bowlers. That being said, he is the sort of player who needs a few hits to get going and if he does, then the KKR might have a very long night on their hands. However, he is going to have a tough battle on his hands against KKR’s spin trio and in particular, against leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

In the previous encounter, Chawla returned with brilliant figures of 1 for 18 in 4 overs and dismissed Stokes to derail the RR innings. He would look to do something similar tonight and it remains to be seen whether the England all-rounder has developed any strategy to handle leg-spin yet. This is going to be an intense battle and one that would have a big impact on the game.

#4 Kuldeep Yadav v Sanju Samson

Kuldeep Yadav is one of the most skillful bowlers in the business and after starting off brilliantly, he has not taken as many wickets as he would have liked. Additionally, Ishan Kishan’s onslaught in the previous game at Eden Gardens must still be fresh in his mind and hence, his battle tonight with another young wicketkeeper-batsman is going to be the one to watch out for. He has taken 9 wickets in 12 games and recorded an economy rate of almost 9, which is not too bad.

Sanju Samson has been one of the most consistent batsmen in this tournament but in his last four innings he could not turn good starts (all 20s) into a substantial and he would dearly like to change that trend in this game. He seems to prefer pace instead of spin and therein lies the opportunity for Yadav. The battle between these two youngsters is going to decide the direction of the RR innings in the middle overs and it promises to be an absorbing one.

#3 Chris Lynn v Shreyas Gopal

Chris Lynn

KKR’s big money signing Chris Lynn has not yet played the sort of innings that has made him one of the best T20 opening batsmen in the world and much of that has to do with the fact that he is perhaps not 100% fit. However, is troubles against spin are now well documented and RR would almost certainly go after him with their spinners. The man for the job could be their leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal, who has held his own so far against many of the more explosive batsmen in the tournament so far and his battle with the Australian is going to have a big impact on the ultimate result of the game.

Gopal’s accuracy and intelligence as a leg-spinner would be a challenge for Lynn. The spinner has taken 6 wickets in 9 games so far and what is most impressive about his record is the economy rate of 8.08. There is every chance that he might open the bowling and attack Lynn straightaway. It is going to be a brilliant spectacle and has the prospect of being one of the most important battles in the game.

#2 Dinesh Karthik v Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer

The KKR captain is now the team’s highest run-scorer with an aggregate of 371 runs but more importantly, Dinesh Karthik has scored those runs at a scorching strike rate of 154.58. In the previous game, he made a 23 ball 50 (5 fours, 3 sixes) as KKR piled up a record 245 against Kings XI Punjab. His performance at number 5 is crucial to the KKR batting effort and it is the final thrust that he provides in the slog over that makes him such a dangerous player.

However, tonight he will come up against one of the finest T20 fast bowlers in the world in RR’s Jofra Archer and that is a contest that everyone will be looking forward to. Karthik’s improvisation and the ability to play attacking strokes all around the wicket makes him a batsman who is tough to contain. On the other hand, Archer’s varieties, pace, the spiteful bouncer and the inch-perfect yorkers make him a bowler who is very tough to hit out against. He started late due to an injury but since then he has picked up 13 wickets in only 7 games and that too at an economy rate of 7.90. Both these players have an epic battle on this hands when they run into each other tonight.

#1 Sunil Narine v Jos Buttler

Sunil Narine

Ever since RR decided to play Jos Buttler at the opener’s slot 5 games ago, he has scored a half-century in each game and his scores in the last three games (82, 95*, 94*) were epic knocks that helped the team in winning crucial games. He has zoomed to the top of the RR run-scoring charts with an aggregate of 509 runs and has recorded an average of 56.55, to go along with a strike rate of 153.77.

He is absolutely crucial to the RR batting effort and without a doubt, the most important wicket as far as KKR are concerned. If he gets going yet again, then there is every chance of RR walking away with the game. KKR’s best chance of stopping the Englishman is by introducing Sunil Narine straightaway against him. The West Indian has an excellent record against him and in the eight T20 games that he has played against him, Narine has only given away 28 runs to Buttler in a total of 29 deliveries. In those games, he dismissed him twice and it is that record that suggests that in tonight’s game, the Buttler v Narine battle could well prove to be the match-defining one.