It's the last league match of IPL 2024, both Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders have already secured their spot in the playoffs. Still, It's going to be an important match for the Royals as a win will secure their place in Qualifier 1, while a defeat here will leave them dependent on the result of the first match of the day between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings. On the other hand, KKR will look to continue the momentum ahead of Qualifier 1.
Rajasthan Royals have had a decent season so far, with some great performances from their batsmen like Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag. However, their bowling has been a bit inconsistent and they will need to step up if they want to finish in the top two.
On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have had a dominating season so far. Sunil Narine has done exceedingly well with both bat and ball. Phil Salt was their second-best batsman in this season but he has left IPL due to national duties and KKR will dearly miss him. Andre Russell’s performance faced a dip as the season marched ahead but his ability can’t be doubted and he will certainly look to find his touch ahead of the big game. Their bowling attack is doing great with the likes of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana. Mitchell Starc can’t be ignored as well.
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, the Royals had defeated Knight Riders by two wickets while chasing down 223 with the help of a blistering century by Jos Buttler who won’t be with the Royals anymore this season. Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to avenge their loss against Rajasthan Royals in their previous encounter.
Probable Playing XI-
Kolkata Knight Riders-
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy (Imp players- Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora)
Rajasthan Royals-
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler- Cadmore, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravi Ashwin, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal (Imp players- Nandre Burger, Donovan Ferreira)
Stats Corner and Interesting Facts-
Andre Russell needs 16 runs to complete 2500 IPL runs.
Rinku Singh needs 107 runs to complete 1000 IPL runs.
Mitchell Starc needs 4 wickets to reach 50 wickets in IPL.
Out of 29 matches between two teams so far, each team has won 14 with one match having no result.
Rajasthan Royals have won all of the previous three games between the two teams.
Weather and Pitch Report-
The second and last game of the season in Guwahati, with the first game between Royals and Punjab Kings witnessed a low-scoring game where Punjab Kings defeated Rajasthan by 5 wickets and 7 balls to spare while chasing 144. The pitch is expected to be the same for this match as well. Weather is predicted to be playing spoilsport during the match with scattered thunderstorms are anticipated.
Match details-
Date & Time- 7:30 PM IST, 19 May 2024
Venue- Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
Live Broadcast- Star Sports Network
Live Streaming- Jio Cinema App
Dream XI Team-
