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Can Royals overcome the odds and beat Knight Riders?
23 May 2018
Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals will go head to head in the eliminator of 2018 IPL at Eden Gardens.
Both teams will have to go all in as the winner will face Sunrisers and take a step closer to sealing a spot in the final while it would be the end of the road for the loser.
So who will win tonight?
Home advantage makes KKR the favorites
Head-to-head
The two teams have met on 17 occasions with Royals boasting a slender advantage by winning 9 matches as compared to 8 victories notched by KKR.
However, at Eden, the two sides have locked horns 6 times with KKR winning 5 matches.
Notably, KKR did a double over Royals earlier this season.
Given the home advantage, KKR are favorites to win the tie.
The Eden Garden curse
Fact
Rajasthan Royals have won only once at the Eden Gardens. They have lost their last six IPL games at this venue with their only victory coming in their maiden season, 2008.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Probable Playing XI
Fact
Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik (captain and wicket-keeper), Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav.
Rajasthan Royals: Probable Playing XI
Fact
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klassen (wicket-keeper), Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Stuart Binny, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Laughlin.
Sunil Narine will have a huge say tonight
Interesting face-offs
Narine has dismissed Rahane thrice in 49 balls while conceding just 63 runs against Ajinkya Rahane.
Samson, too, has had troubles against Narine.
He has lost his wicket thrice to Narine in just 27 balls
Narine needs 2 more wickets to reach the 50-wicket milestone at Eden Gardens. Malinga is the only bowler to achieve the feat of picking 50+ wickets at one venue.
Guide to picking your Dream XI
Fact
Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Chris Lynn, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi (vice-captain), Sunil Narine (captain), Jofra Archer, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Ish Sodhi and Shreyas Gopal.
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