It's promising to be a thrilling business end for IPL 2023 as teams which were in the bottom half of the points table have started to huge strides.
One of them is Kolkata Knight Riders, which will look to continue its resurgence when the Knights take on the Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata on Thursday.
KKR is peaking at the right time and has won 3 of its last 4 games. Rajasthan on the other hand is on a 3-match losing run.
Another thing in Kolkata's favour is the fact that they will play in their own backyard at the Eden Gardens. The pitch has favoured the batters, with 200-plus scores being made in 3 out of 5 matches played here in IPL 2023.
However, spinners have also enjoyed bowing here in the second half, so win the toss and batting first should be the likely moto.
While KKR won its last match against the Punjab Kings at this ground, the Royals are coming off a morale-shattering last-ball defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
TEAM NEWS
With just one wicket in the last eight matches, Sunil Narine is likely to get dropped from the playing XI
HEAD-TO-HEAD
In 27 games between these two sides, KKR has won 14 while RR has won 12 games. However, Kolkata has won 4 of the last 6 games against Rajasthan.
KOLKATA WEATHER
The met department has predicted no rain in Kolkata on Thursday. However, with humidity levels at 76%, dew is likely to play a part,
KKR vs RR Probable playing XI
KKR Possible playing XI
Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy
RR Possible playing XI
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Joe Root, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal
WHERE TO WATCH
How to watch on TV
People who want to watch the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals match on TV can tune into Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 3 HD
How to watch live streaming
People can watch the KKR vs RR match free of cost on the Jio Cinema App. You can download the app on your smartphone, smart TV or any other device.
KKR vs RR Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Squad
Nitish Rana (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N. Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Mandeep Singh, Aarya Desai and Johnson Charles.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) Squad
Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Joe Root, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa, Jason Holder, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, Murugan Ashwin, Akash Vashisht and Abdul P A.