What

The Rajasthan Royals will play their second home match of VIVO IPL 2018 when they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders.

RR were blown away by Sunrisers Hyderabad in their season opener, but have since bounced back to clinch back-to-back wins. They clinched their first points of the season in a rain-affected encounter against the Delhi Daredevils at home, and followed it up with a dominant performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have two wins from four outings this season. Most recently, they demolished the Delhi Daredevils; despite a late innings collapse, KKR scored 200-9 riding on Andre Russell’s assault, after which their bowlers strangled the visiting Daredevils, eventually bundling them out for 129.

Despite the results, both teams have reason to worry. The Rajasthan Royals will be worried about the form of two of their overseas batsmen; D’Arcy Short, who was expected to light up the tournament, is yet to showcase what he is capable of, while Ben Stokes – the most expensive player at this year’s auction – has an aggregate of 48 runs from three outings. It is not just the quantum of runs that should worry the team management, but their struggles at the crease. RR also have issues with their bowling; three of their pacers – JaydevUnadkat, Ben Laughlin and Stokes – have an economy rate of close to eleven runs per over, and RR will want them to sort themselves out quickly.

Andre Russell, despite batting at number six and seven, is KKR’s top run-getter this season; on two occasions, the big Jamaican has destroyed the opposition bowling attack single-handedly, and his batting form must delight the KKR team management. Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana have been good with the bat too. On the bowling front, KKR will be delighted their spinners have been able to impose themselves on the opposition and as a result have been able to strike consistently; off the 27 wickets taken by the KKR bowlers, 16 have been by their spinners.

The Rajasthan Royals have fielded the same XI in their three matches so far, and one can expect they will field the same XI yet again – though Jofra Archer makes for an irresistible pick. KKR have a tiny squad, and coming off a win they will not want to disturb the combination.

When

18 April 2018, 2000Hrs (IST)

Where

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Impact Batsmen

Sanju Samson has been in imperious form with the bat; he has made runs every time he has strode out to bat. It is not so much the quantum of runs he has scored, but the manner in which he has made scores of 49, 37 & 92*. The 23-tear old has timed the ball beautifully – presenting the middle of the bat almost all the time. Samson hasn’t had to create strokes, but has generally held his shape and played the copybook strokes to score his runs.

For KKR, Nitish Rana has looked in good touch with the bat; the 24-year old has an aggregate of 127 runs this season – those runs being scored at a strike-rate of 141.His performance in the previous match against the Delhi Daredevils – 59 off 35 balls – was rated very highly, and he was declared the Player of the Match award.

Impact Bowlers

The boundaries at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium are big, and therefore the spinners who may feature in this match – Sunil Narine (for KKR) and Shreyas Gopal (for RR) – will have an important role to play. Narine has picked up wickets in every match he has played so far, and he is the most economical bowler this season. The RR leg-spinner Shreyas will be confident after dismissing Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the previous match.

Team Head to Head

Overall: Matches – 15, Rajasthan Royals won – 9, Kolkata Knight Riders won – 6

Trivia

The Rajasthan Royals have won their last 9 IPL matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The record for the most consecutive wins at a venue is 10 - jointly held by Chennai Super Kings (at the MA Chidambaram Stadium) and Mumbai Indians (at the Wankhede Stadium).

What Next

The Rajasthan Royals will head to Chennai next to take on the Chennai Super Kings on April 20, while the Kolkata Knight Riders’ next will be their home fixture against Kings XI Punjab, scheduled to be played on April 21.