Match Preview – RCB vs KKR, IPL 2021, Eliminator

Both teams have shown plenty of spark in the UAE, despite their captains misfiring with the bat

Big Picture

After two years of missing out due to an inferior net run rate (NRR), Kolkata Knight Riders are back in the playoffs, and have done it in barnstorming fashion in the second half of IPL 2021. When the season was suspended in May, Knight Riders had played seven games and won two. The move to UAE saw them reverse those results, winning five of their next seven games, and in commanding enough fashion to survive a Mumbai Indians’ late NRR charge.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have not been too far behind, following their good showing in the first half with solid displays in the second, winning four of their seven matches in UAE.

So, there’s no obvious “form team” between the two, both having shown plenty of spark so far in this leg, both filled with match-winners in their line-ups, both discovering breezy options in the top order in Venkatesh Iyer and KS Bharat – and both having captains who haven’t been piling up the runs as they normally would.

Virat Kohli has 168 runs in seven games in the UAE leg, bolstered by two fifties in the first three of those. The last four have yielded only 59 runs. His strike rate’s been 117.48, and not too much higher even during his half-centuries. However, Kohli’s returns look gargantuan when compared to Eoin Morgan’s in the UAE leg this year: a measly 32 runs in six innings, reaching double figures for the first time in Knight Riders’ last league game where he finished unbeaten on 13. He’s also been considerably slower than a run a ball, striking at 82.05.

That they have come so far despite these numbers from key batters is a credit to both teams. But for one of them, the journey will end tomorrow.

In the news

The biggest question ahead of this game is Andre Russell‘s fitness. As of two days ago, Knight Riders chief mentor David Hussey said Russell would be “pushing hard” to get fit for the playoffs, while Morgan took solace from Russell’s ability to heal quickly from injuries. The last time these two sides met, Russell yorked AB de Villiers first-ball, and his legendary six-hitting ability has often found an extra gear against Royal Challengers. But will Russell be fit? We’ll know only at toss time. Shakib Al Hasan has been a good addition to the XI, but really, there’s no replacing Russell.