Today In IPL 2021 - Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Image Source: Google)

Today (April 24) In IPL 2021, Rajasthan Royals (RR), who are stuck at the bottom of the points table, will face Kolkata Knight Riders  at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night.

IPL 2021 - Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders, Match No.18 Preview

While RR have managed just one win in four matches and have the worst net run rate among all teams, their opponents KKR too have been finding the going tough. They also have one win in four games but are ahead of both RR and Punjab Kings on net run rate.

KKR's net run rate could, however, have been poorer had their lower order not clicked in the last match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The batting performance of Andre Russell and Pat Cummins would have given KKR a lot of confidence ahead of their match against RR.

Cummins on Thursday had said that the fightback against CSK, that saw KKR recover from 31/5 to reach 202 i.e. 18 runs short of CSK total, has given the team the belief that they can come back from any position.

If KKR's top-order batting clicks as well, then RR bowling will find it really difficult.

The Sanju Samson-led side is coming off a very poor outing against RCB on Thursday night. Although RR managed to put up a strong 177-run total, the performance of the bowlers was insipid as they couldn't pick a single wicket allowing Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli to share an unbeaten 181-run partnership and win the match by 10 wickets.

RR are missing key England players, all-rounder Ben Stokes and pace bowler Jofra Archer who both have returned home due to injury. In their absence, the onus has been on Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman to perform.

Prior to the last game, batting all-rounder Liam Livingstone also left the RR camp and departed for England citing bubble fatigue. The only good thing for RR in Thursday's 10-wicket loss to RR was the runs uncapped Indian batsmen scored.

Rajasthan v Kolkata: Head To Head In IPL

@rajasthanroyals will take on @KKRiders In the 18th Game Of #IPL2021 Today.
Check out the match Preview #KKRvRR @ https://t.co/zKS7mrDWK2 pic.twitter.com/isN7j2uKCV

— CRICKETNMORE (@cricketnmore) April 24, 2021

Probable XI RR v KKR

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal/Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman 

Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti/Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna