It’s the battle of the third and fourth-placed at Sharjah Cricket Stadium with both teams aiming for two crucial points. Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore – both the teams have hit the strides and will hope to keep up the winning momentum.
Virat Kohli & Co will aim to continue their good form in the second half of IPL – where they have struggled to let go of their chances. As the spotlight moves to Sharjah, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar will have to tighten their plans.
A lot will depend on how Bangalore’s death bowling dish which they have managed well not to expose. Addition of Chris Morris worked well for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they look to go past Kolkata Knight Riders in the points table.
Kolkata-Bangalore lock horns for two crucial points
On the other hand for Kolkata, they made a superb turnaround in the last game which will boost their confidence. Although Kolkata Knight Riders have already handled Sunil Narine’s action problem and Andre Russell’s injury concerns, this time it will be more concerning than ever.
Both star cricketers from West Indies were key to Dinesh Karthik’s plan in the death over. To see them not performing at their personal best will keep the think tank busy. However, Kolkata Knight Riders will look to pan out a strategy to overcome the Royal Challengers Bangalore challenge.
IPL 2020: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Sharjah Cricket Stadium from 7:30 PM IST on October 12
Pitch Conditions
The focus will be on Sharjah wicket which hinted some help to the bowlers in the last game. It didn’t rain sixes in the last tie and it will be exciting to see how things pan between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, who have plenty of hard-hitters in their ranks.
Predicted Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders – Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (c&wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Match Prediction – Who will win the match?
Kolkata Knight Riders have dominated the proceedings with 14 wins out of 24 games whenever they have played against Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, Virat Kohli & his boys look like firm favourites to improve their record later tonight at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
