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Kolkata Knight Riders, in fourth position, should make it to the Playoffs if they beat Rajasthan Royals tonight, for in that case, Mumbai Indians will have to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by an absurdly big margin. However, if Kolkata lose to Rajasthan, they will have to depend on Hyderabad beating Mumbai. For Rajasthan, their crushing defeat against Mumbai has reduced their chances of qualification to little beyond a theoretical possibility.
Kolkata had an ordinary start to this season, winning just two out of their first seven matches. Since resumption, they have won four out of six. They finished fifth in the last two seasons, and tonight's match may help them improve on that. They should be excited with Andre Russell and Lockie Ferguson back in the training. If at least one of them plays this match, that would strengthen the core significantly.
Their batting depends on the young Indian quartet at the top. Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, and Nitish Rana are all in touch, somewhat making up for Eoin Morgan's woeful form. Morgan will be followed by Dinesh Karthik and, if Russell is unfit, Shakib Al Hasan, who bowled brilliantly in the last match.
Their bowling is dependent on Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, and KKR will hope for the duo to throttle the young Indian middle order of Rajasthan. Tim Southee has bowled well, but will probably lose his place if Ferguson is fit.
In their last two matches, Rajasthan beat then table toppers Chennai Super Kings by chasing down 190 in less than 18 overs, and lost to seventh place Mumbai by crawling to just 90/9 in 20 overs. This is the kind of inconsistency that has marked their season, one that they would love to sign off with a win.
The inclusion of Evin Lewis has helped their run rate in the Powerplay, which has been the highest among all teams in the UAE leg. However, Lewis pulled a muscle in the last match, and may not feature. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, and Shivam Dube will form the core of Indian batters and will expect help from David Miller, Glenn Phillips or, if he plays, Liam Livingstone.
The Royals have tried many bowlers and provided debut to two different young fast bowlers in Akash Singh and Kuldip Yadav in their last two matches. It will be interesting to see which bowling lineup they opt for against KKR to support their best two bowlers Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya.
Likely XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy
Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman, Kartik Tyagi.
Betway Fantasy Tips
- KKR all-rounders like Narine, Shakib, Iyer, and Russell in case he plays should be a good pick
- Some of the young top-order Indian batters like Jaiswal, Tripathi, and Samson can be handy
- Mustafizur, Sakariya, and Chakravarthy should be the top picks among the bowlers
Blitzpools Fantasy XI
Sanju Samson (VC); Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi; Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tewatia; Varun Chakravarthy, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
