IPL 2020 returns to the batsmen’s paradise of Sharjah Cricket Stadium as Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
RCB is having its best start to the season ever. There are certain issues to be taken care of, however, with minor adjustments, the team has looked pretty good. They are coming off a huge win over the mighty Chennai Super Kings.
KKR, on the other hand, seems to have finally found its groove. They are coming off a close win over the Kings XI Punjab. Their bowlers have literally snatched victory from jaws of the defeat. However, they’ll be happy with skipper Dinesh Karthik and Sunil Narine finally finding some form. Andre Russell, however, will have to pull his socks up and perform.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB is coming off a huge victory against the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings. They started off a bit slow and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. However, captain Virat Kohli started holding the inning together. He had already regained form but this time around he raised it a notch higher as he scored a marvellous 90 runs off only 52 balls.
Their bowling looked a good collective effort as well as everybody contributed. However, the star of the show was Chris Morris who picked 3 important wickets. He proved why he’s one of the most expensive foreign players in IPL 2020.
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR is coming off an important win against KXIP. They had an almost identical performance to their win against CSK, however, this match was a bit close. They put up a decent score of 164 runs batting first with an impressive 57 from Shubman Gill. However, they would be happier about the performance of skipper Dinesh Karthik who scored 58 off just 29 balls.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal were cruising towards the total when Prasidh Krishna, who was playing his first game of the season, halted the show. Sunil Narine then bowled well to restrict KXIP to 162 as KKR won by only 2 runs.
Fantasy XI team
VIRAT KOHLI (10.5) (C) – Kohli is back in form and that’s bad news for bowlers! He’s always an inning away from gaining confidence as he scored 90 not out in his previous game. He’ll be our captain.
SHUBMAN GILL (9) (VC) – Gill looked in great form in the second match as his fifty took KKR home. He scored half-centuries against RR and KXIP to take KKR towards a respectable total. He’ll be our vice-captain.
AB DE VILLIERS (10) – AB de Villiers has been fairly consistent this IPL. It’s hard to believe that he has been out of action before the IPL.
DEVDUTT PADIKKAL (8.5) – Youngster Padikkal has impressed everyone with his batting this year. After top order fails, he’s had 3 fifties in five matches in the IPL.
EOIN MORGAN (9.5) – Morgan has shown great form. He took KKR home against their match against SRH. He also played an important contribution against RR to put up a respectable total. He also gave a ray of hope in their last match chasing 228.
NITISH RANA (9) – Rana has looked good. He’s coming off a great 58 against DC.
RAHUL TRIPATHI (8) – Tripathi has been the man in form. He comes right away in our dream team.
SHIVAM DUBE (8.5) – Dube has scored valuable runs down the order and has also provided the team with some wickets at crucial stages.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL (9) – Chahal has developed into a phenomenal and intelligent limited over spinner.
NAVDEEP SAINI (8.5) – On a ground like Sharjah where other bowlers leak runs, Saini has the ability to keep things tight and take wickets.
PAT CUMMINS (9) – Cummins has bowled well. He has also scored important runs with the bat.
PREDICTION
Kolkata Knight Riders have been defending their total extremely efficiently. However, that might as well not be the case on a ground like Sharjah. Also, during the last few matches, the Sharjah pitch has been a bit slower. If that’s the case then RCB has proper resources like Yuzvendra Chahal who could capitalize on that. With the addition of Chris Morris along with Isuru Udana and Navdeep Saini could solve their death overs conundrum. The Royal Challengers Bangalore will therefore defeat the Kolkata Knight Riders.
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