IPL 2018: Eliminator, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals - Toss Report

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to field first against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens Kolkata on Wednesday (May 23) evening.

Here is what the captains said:

Dinesh Karthik:

“Absolutely, it’s an eliminator and there’s no scope for errors. We’re playing the same side. At this stage, it’s about staying calm under pressure. Eden has always supported KKR over the years and we expect the same tonight.”

Ajinkya Rahane:

“We will bowl first. The wicket looks a bit damp and the record here says that the chasing team does well generally. In playoffs, we need to start well. We are unchanged as well. The crowd will support them as KKR are playing. As DK said, we need to play good cricket as it’s playoffs.”

Match Preview:

The Eliminator will see an inconsistent Rajasthan up against the Knight Riders. Dinesh Karthik-led team made it to the playoffs after registering three consecutive wins.

To be precise, the game can be well decided by how the spinners of both teams would perform. Both the teams will rely heavily on their slow bowlers. The last time when these two teams met a week ago, Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav had Royals in a royal mess.

But past form counts for little in games like these. However, the psychological barrier can hurt the Royals at a venue where they have a terrible record. The last time they tasted success in Kolkata, Shane Warne was still serving as a captain way back in 2008.

Since then, the Royals have played five times at the venue and lost on each occasion.

Coming to the batting department, the Knight Riders look better on the paper. The Kolkata-based franchise does not have a single batsman with a score in excess of 500. However, they have two with a 400-plus tally and a total of six batsmen who have hit more than 250 runs in the season.

On the other hand, Royals’ top-scorer – Jos Buttler with 538 runs – isn’t available while then next three on the list – Sanju Samson (391 runs), Ajinkya Rahane (328 runs) and Rahul Tripathi (206 runs) – have all been highly inconsistent.

If past form is considered then Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to win this contest.

However, the Royals have shown that they can beat the best of the teams on their days.  With this, the impending contest is being considered as an exciting one.

Playing elevens:

Rajasthan Royals:

Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Krishnappa Gowtham, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Shreyas Gopal, Ben Laughlin

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav