Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview: Desperate teams looking for a lift-up

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to get back to winning ways and address their recent stutter when they take on a Kolkata Knight Riders side desperate for a win. This match #30 will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.

RCB have ten points from their seven matches, but their two losses have come in the last three matches. As for KKR, they have just two wins from their seven matches and are languishing in the bottom-three.

Kolkata Knight Riders started the tournament with a 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, but have soon lost their mojo with five losses in their last six matches.

Only Nitish Rana (201 runs, SR 122.56) has scored more than 200 runs for the Knight Riders, who are struggling for top-order consistency. With the ball too, only Pat Cummins’ nine wickets are the most by any of their bowlers.

Eoin Morgan and Kolkata are due some big changes to their playing XI, as the likes of Shubman Gill and Prasidh Krishna continue to struggle.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore started the tournament with four straight wins, but have since won just once in three matches. They come here on the back of a 34-run loss to Punjab Kings.

Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers have aggregated 200+ runs for the team with SRs in excess of 140. However, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal continue to blow hot and cold. With the ball, Harshal Patel (17 wickets, ER 9.17) leads the ‘Purple Cap’ race but has started leaking runs in tonnes.

Although questions remain over their top-order, the only possible change could be that of Rajat Patidar sitting out.

Kolkata Knight Riders have a 15-13 overall win-loss lead over Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, it is the Royal Challengers who have won the last four matches.

That includes a 38-run win in Chennai this season. Glenn Maxwell (78) and AB de Villiers (76) sparkled with the bat to help RCB post 204/4. In reply, Kyle Jamieson’s 3/41 restricted KKR to 166/8 with Andre Russell’s 31 being the top-score.

Including the reverse fixture against Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders have lost five of their last six matches. The team has been struggling to get its composition right and that is telling in their performances. With very little from their top-order, KKR have a lot to improve before they can start climbing the points tally. Royal Challengers Bangalore have started brightly but are stuttering in the recent games as the batsmen have started flopping. Even Harshal Patel’s early tournament luck seems to have deserted him.

Royal Challengers Bangalore are in need of a quick turnaround as their good start to the season is under threat. The top-order batsmen need to get into top-gear but could be challenged by Kolkata’s mystery spinners. Kolkata Knight Riders are having bigger concerns and their need for a win is bigger. It could be the RCB side that may end up posting the highest opening partnership of the match and edge out the KKR team for a win. Kolkata could be the ones with maximum 6s, though.