April 16 (Punjab Khabarnama) : After registering a thrilling win over the Punjab Kings on Saturday, table-toppers Rajasthan Royals will be up for another challenge against the two-time former champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. KKR, who are currently placed at no.2 in the table, will be looking to dethrone Rajasthan from the top spot if they manage to prevail over the latter.
The Shreyas Iyer-led side will be looking to continue from their left-off against the LSG on Sunday. They will also be backing their demolishing opening pair of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt who have paid dividends in almost every KKR win this year. Salt unleashed devastation against LSG with a spell-binding knock of 89 runs off just 47 deliveries which included 14 fours and 3 sixes. Their bowling order was top-notch with the league’s most expensive player Mitchell Starc showcasing his captivating bowling in the very same encounter.
The Royals will be eyeing the return of balance after a faltering batting performance against Punjab in their last match. The inaugural edition champions began their 147-run chase against the hosts courageously in the absence of their star opener Jos Buttler. However, some loose batting from the RR players led to wickets tumbling one after the other. The Sanju Samson side clung onto the edge of the cliff at 138/7 with 10 runs required off the final over before the Caribbean sensation Shimron Hetmyer held his nerve to turn the match in RR’s favour.
RR likely XI if batting first
Yashaswi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson (c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult
RR likely XI if bowling first
Yashaswi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson (c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Keshav Maharaj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult
Impact Players: Kuldeep Sen, Rovman Powell.
KKR likely XI if batting first
Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana.
KKR likely XI if bowling first
Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora.
Impact Players: Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora