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The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 approaches the halfway mark as Match 28 pits Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the high-scoring Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Both teams sit pretty in the top half of the table with four wins in six games. On the one hand, we have the Kolkata Knight Riders, who have picked up steam after a slow start to the competition.
With a power-packed batting unit being well complemented by the spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, KKR look set for a top-four finish this season. They come into this game on the back of two sensational wins, including an absolute heist against KXIP on Saturday, which should give them a lot of confidence heading into this match.
Their opponents, RCB have also done exceedingly well this season with the additions of Chris Morris and Devdutt Padikkal reaping the rewards so far. Their bowling unit that has been the centre of criticism for the last few seasons has also performed admirably with Chahal leading the way.
With the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers also looking in fine form, they would ideally fancy their chances of a second consecutive win at Sharjah.
However, RCB wouldn't be too fond of their IPL record against KKR which reads 15-10 against them. Either side won a game each last season in the IPL, in fixtures that saw Andre Russell star with the bat in hand.
If their encounters in IPL 2019 are any indication of things to come on Monday, we should be in for another high-scoring thriller considering the venue as well. With the likes of Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill taking the field, we should be in for an absolute treat!
Click here for Live Cricket Score & Ball by Ball Commentary
Squads to choose from
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Dale Steyn, Isuru Udana, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Adam Zampa.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Dinesh Karthik (C), Shivam Mavi, Tom Banton, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Nikhil Naik, Manimaran Siddharth, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Shubman Gill, Nitesh Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Chris Green and Rahul Tripathi
Predicted Playing 11
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Isuru Udana and Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (C&WK), Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Varun Chakravarthy.
Match Details
Match: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 28
Date: 12th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Pitch Report
Another high-scoring encounter beckons in Sharjah with the average first innings score in IPL 2020 at the venue being 212. Although the pacers have enjoyed some success at this venue, the batsmen have ruled the roost with the dimensions of the ground playing into their hands.
However, the spinners varied their pace to perfection last time around at Sharjah, which could be a template for the likes of Chahal and Narine on this surface. Both captains would ideally look to chase on this surface with the conditions not likely to change much during the game.
RCB vs KKR IPL Dream11 Fantasy Suggestions
Fantasy Suggestion #1: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Aaron Finch, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Chris Morris, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Varun Chakravarthy and Prasidh Krishna
Captain: AB de Villiers, Vice-Captain: Nitish Rana
Fantasy Suggestion #2: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Eoin Morgan, Chris Morris, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Varun Chakravarthy and Pat Cummins
Captain: Eoin Morgan, Vice-Captain: AB de Villiers
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