IPL 2021, Eliminator: Royal Challengers Bangalore elect to bat
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders are squaring off in the Eliminator of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The winners of this clash will face Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2. Meanwhile, the losers of the Eliminator will be knocked out of the tournament. Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to bat.
Kolkata have had the wood in the head-to-head meetings between the two teams. In 28 meetings, KKR have won 15 games so far with a win percentage of 53.57. Meanwhile, RCB have pocketed 13 victories (win percentage: 46.43). Interestingly, RCB have won four of the last six encounters against KKR. Both sides beat each other once in the league stage this season.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium is hosting the match. It will begin at 7:30 PM IST. The surface has been on the slower side throughout this season. However, as per Matthew Hayden, who examined the surface, the pitch might assist the batters today. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 1 to reach the final of IPL 2021. Now, the Capitals will play the winners of Eliminator (RCB vs KKR) in the Qualifier 2. The winners of Qualifier 2 will proceed to the final.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (captain), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli (captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wicket-keeper), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, George Garton, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
