Every Kolkata Knight Riders match in the IPL 2019 edition has been about one man: Andre Russell. He has hammered his way to a record-breaking year just four matches in the season and looks set to make this his best IPL season if he continues in the same vein.
The KKR batsmen have realised that if they keep wickets in hand and give Russell a platform, he will get them to at least a competitive total or a win. Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, have their job cut out.
They got their first win of the season against fellow-strugglers Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match and will now look to build on the momentum. The game-changer for RR in the last match was Shreyas Gopal who deceived Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer with his googlies to finish with match figures of 3 for 12.
And RR will once again look to make the most of their knowledge of the home conditions against KKR and Russell. The big West Indian is especially dangerous against pace late in the innings and it might be interesting to see how he copes with Gopal’s googlies, if RR can hold back the leg-spinner long enough that is.
For RR to have an ace up their sleeve against Russell, their pacemen will need to bowl much better. Jofra Archer, Jaidev Unadkat and Ben Stokes have leaked runs in the death overs and if they can’t get their act together, it could be ruinous for their team.
KKR’s other batsmen, Nitish Rana, Robin Uthappa and Shubhman Gill, are also in top form but they have struggled with their bowling. Despite the presence of Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine, the economy rate of the KKR bowlers has been unnaturally high.
Anything other than the manic hitting of Russell would have meant a very poor start to the season for Dinesh Karthik’s team and the KKR skipper knows that too.
RR should have won at least one more match but they have failed to grab their chances against Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings after being in commanding positions.
Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson have been in fine form for the home team. Ajinkya Rahane has provided good support but they will still need Steve Smith and Ben Stokes to step up in a big way if they want to turn this season around.
Historically, the teams have matched up well. In 18 matches, Rajasthan and Kolkata have both won 9 each.
Both teams will also have to deal with the soaring heat in the the Pink City with temperatures nearing 40 degrees celsius.
Data check
Buttler has scored half-centuries in his last four IPL matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur and his team will be hoping he can continue the streak.
2019 has been the year of Andre Russell in more than one way. He is the top six-hitter in T20 matches this year having hit 53 sixes in 21 innings.
The Teams (From):
Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, Liam Livingstone, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Varun Aaron, Shashank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (capt), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, K C Cariappa and Yarra Prithviraj.
Match starts 8pm.
