KKR v RR: IPL MATCH 47 PREVIEW

After winning 3 out of the 1st 4 games, KKR have now lost 5 consecutive games agaisnt DC, SRH, RR, GT & DC. The curse of Brabourne continued as KKR have lost all the 5 games played at that venue. Batting has been a major let down so far for with no or little contributions from the likes of Rahane, V Iyer, Finch, Jackson. Nitish Rana has made major contributions with the bat in last few games. They have lost 18 wkts in the Powerplay which is most by any side and have not crossed 50 since that opening game against CSK. Add to that, there has been a stark contrast between their performance with the ball in the powerplay and at the death. Pat Cummins has conceded 190 runs in the 16 overs he has bowled, Varun Chakravarty had conceded runs at an eco of 10 only once in 35 matches before conceding it in consecutive games against DC,SRH and went at an eco of 15 against RR. Sunil Narine is a lone bright spot in the bowling with an economy of 5.3 in 9 games. KKR finally made a wise decision to bring Tim Southee in place of Cummins. Southee has bowled well in the Powerplay and has 9 wkts at an eco of 6.9 overall. Umesh Yadav is back among wkts and that would be a major boost for KKR but they lost fast bowler Harshit Rana to injury and that played some role in their defeat against DC

Powerpacked performances from Jos Buttler followed by magical spells of spin duo of Ravi Ashwin & Yuzvendra Chahal is the story of every RR game in this season. Buttler has 3 100s and is the top scorer with 566 runs at a SR of 155. Powerplay has been RR's biggest strength so far. Jos Buttler alone has hit 16 of the 21 sixes in the 1st six overs. Since 2018, he has the best SR in this period. Death Overs is singlehandedly taken care by Shimron Hetmyrer who has scored the most runs and sixes in this period from 2021. In 2022, he has scored 158 runs at a SR of 216. So far, RR's other woes in opening and end overs have been overshadowed because of the brilliance of these 2 individuals. RR will be boosted by Riyan Parag's form in the game against RCB and their new pace sensation Kuldeep Sen.

Probable XI

Kolkata Knight Riders

Aaron Finch, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Baba Indrajith(wk), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi

Rajasthan Royals

Devdutt Padikkal/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Daryl Mitchell/Rassie Van der Dussen, Ravi Ashwin, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna

Venue

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

-Average 1st innings total: 167.9
-Average 1st innings total in 2022: 171.8
-Average 1st Innings winning score: 180.9

-Highest total: 235/1, made by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians.
-Lowest Score:–67/10, made by Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians

-Teams batting 1st: Have won 46 out of 93 times
-Teams batting 2nd: Have won 47 out of 93 times

Teams batting 1st have won the last 6 out of the 8 matches at Wankhede

Record at Wankhede

KKR: Played - 14, Won -3, Lost -11
RR: Played - 16, Won - 8, Lost 8

Head to Head

Overall: KKR lead by 13-12
Batting 1st: RR lead by 9-4
Batting 2nd: KKR lead by 9-3
Last 5 matches: RR lead by 3-2

Match Ups

Russell v Chahal: 80/1 at 216 sr
Russell v Boult: 21/2 at 210 sr
Russell v Ashwin: 1/2

Samson v Umesh: 92/3 at 191 sr
Samson v Narine: 51/3 at 79 sr
Samson v Mavi: 23/4 at 121 sr

Rana v Ashwin: 76/0 at 200 sr
Rana v Chahal: 72/5 at 122 sr

Narine v Ashwin: 60/1 at 272 sr
Narine v Boult: 13/2 at 162 sr

Buttler v Varun: 28/2 at 215 sr
Buttler v Mavi: 56/1 at 160 sr
Buttler v Narine: 52/1 at 115 sr

Iyer v Chahal: 78/1 at 134 sr

Form Update
(last 5 innings)

Key Players & Fantasy Picks

Captain

Andre Russell: The 2 time MVP of the IPL was quiet with the bat in the past 2 seasons but he displayed a scintillating show of power hitting against PBKS and yet again proved why he is one of the most dangerous players in t20 cricket. He scored 49 in the game against SRH, and another 40 odd vs GT and is also contributing with the ball by bowling atleast 2 overs in every game. he took 4 wkts in the last over against GT game. Russell strikes at 209 at the death with 74 sixes. He has hit 22 sixes so far.

Jos Buttler: Since 2018, Butler strikes at 147 in the Powerplay with 879 runs. Regarded as one of the most dangerous white ball batters in the world, he had a brilliant t20 wc where he scored a scintillating 100 against SL on a slow Sharjah Pitch and carried his form in the IPL where he scored another 100 in his 2nd game of the season, a 70 odd in the game vs RCB and a quickfire 50 in the powerplay against GT, and another 2 100s against KKR & DC. He is now the orange cap holder with 566 runs and has hit 36 sixes.

Yuzvendra Chahal: Purple cap holder with 19 wkts at an eco of 7.2. The spin duo of Ashwin & Chahal have been RR's biggest strength in the middle overs. Chahal has taken 14 wkts in the middle overs, behind Kuldeep who has scalped 17 wkts. RR have been using him wisely by bowling his 2 overs after the 14th over. He bowled brilliantly in the 18th over of last few games.

Budget Pick:
(Fantasy rating: 8.5)

Sunil Narine: 0/15, 1/12, 1/23, 0/26, 2/21, 0/23, 2/21, 0/31, 1/19 are his spells in the 9 games so far with a dot % of 44 and an economy of 5.3

Wild Card pick

Trent Boult: He has taken most wkts in PP since 2020. Could cause early problems for the opening pair of KKR with his swing.

Prediction: RR to win and the spin duo of Ashwin & Chahal will once again be the difference.

Fantasy XI