Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore will clash against each other at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore faced their second defeat of the season last week, as they lost to Punjab Kings by 34 runs. Virat Kohli’s men are currently third on the points table, having won five of their seven matches so far. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders suffered their fifth defeat of the season, as they were convincingly defeated by Delhi Capitals by a margin of seven wickets last time out.
The last time the two sides played against each other, Royal Challengers Bangalore secured a convincing 38 run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders. AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell both registered scores over 70, which helped RCB post a total above 200 runs in Chennai.
In their last game, Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to chase down a total of 180 runs, as Harpreet Brar took three wickets in quick succession. KL Rahul smashed an unbeaten knock of 91 runs against RCB as he continues his good form against the same opposition. RCB have only lost matches against Chennai Super Kings and PBKS this season.
Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways against Punjab Kings, defeating them by five wickets. However, they suffered a crushing loss against Delhi Capitals, where they were beaten by seven wickets. It was a dismal performance from the batting unit, as they failed to put up a fighting total on board. Eoin Morgan’s poor start to the season continued as he was dismissed for a duck. Shubman Gill and Andre Russell were the only two players who got starts and registered scores over 40.
Key Players
Virat Kohli has not had the best start to the IPL season. The RCB skipper has managed to score just half-century this season, which came against Rajasthan Royals. Kohli smashed an unbeaten knock of 72 runs against RR, playing second fiddle to Devdutt Padikkal, who managed to score a century. He has scored 198 runs in his seven innings so far, at an average of 33 and a strike rate in the 120s. Kohli was dismissed for a score of just 5 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders, and he will hope to score a huge knock-on Monday.
AB de Villiers has been one of the standout batsmen for RCB this season. The former South African batsman has already won two players of the match awards this season. He has been assigned the duty of being the finisher for RCB and comes in to bat at number five. He scored a quickfire knock of 76 runs from just 34 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders a few weeks ago. Last week, he played another match-winning knock of 75 runs against Delhi Capitals, which helped RCB register their fifth victory of the season.
Shubman Gill finally managed to get among the runs in his last outings. The Indian batsman scored a decent knock of 43 runs against Delhi Capitals before being dismissed by Avesh Khan. The KKR batsman struggled to score runs prior to his outing against Delhi Capitals, as he managed to score just 89 runs in his six innings. Gill will hope to build on his momentum and continue to score runs for the side.
Andre Russell helped Kolkata Knight Riders to finish with a respectable total against Delhi Capitals, as he scored a quickfire knock of 45 runs from just 27 balls. The West Indian all-rounder has had a decent contribution with the bat so far. He scored a spectacular knock of 54 runs from just 22 balls against Chennai Super Kings to bring his side back into the game. With the ball, he picked up a five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians and has been underutilized in the past few games. Last time against RCB, he scored 31 runs off just 20 balls, which includes three fours and 2 sixes.
Prediction
Both sides are coming into Monday’s clash on the back of losses in their last game. Royal Challengers Bangalore will be the more confident of the two sides, as they have found their correct team combination. Kolkata Knight Riders have failed to pick up wickets during the powerplay overs, which cost them the match against Delhi Capitals.
Eoin Morgan’s form is a huge concern. The English skipper has failed to hit the ground running this season and will hope to change his fortunes on Monday. On the other hand, Virat Kohli has also struggled to score runs on a consistent basis and has been thrice dismissed for a score in the 30s. AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell have been in amazing form this season, which has helped RCB win five games.
Harshal Patel has been a standout bowler this season. The Indian pacer has picked up 17 wickets so far and is the current holder of the Purple Cap.
