Royals vs Knight Riders: Pitch report and statistical preview
What's the story
Rajasthan Royals will welcome the Kolkata Knight Riders to their fortress as these two sides lock horns at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan Royals have won their last 9 matches in Jaipur. On the other hand, KKR spinners are back in form and would look to keep their momentum going. Here is our statistical preview for this high octane fixture.
Unbreachable
The Sawai Mansingh Stadium is RR's fortress
Rajasthan Royals are one of the most difficult teams to beat at home. The Royals have won each of their last nine IPL games in Jaipur. Moreover, Rajasthan have been victorious in their previous 13 T20 games in Jaipur (including CLT20). Only Mumbai Indians and CSK have more consecutive wins (10) at home. Can RR become the third team to achieve the feat?
Battle of the captains
Who will emerge on top tonight?
RR captain Ajinkya Rahane averages only 24.71 against KKR in the IPL. The right-handed batsman has scored 346 runs in 14 innings with two fifties against the Knight Riders. While KKR captain Dinesh Karthik has a batting average of 22.00 against RR. The wicket-keeper batsman has scored 286 runs in 15 IPL innings with his top score being 69.
Favourite opposition
Will Chawla have a good game tonight?
Piyush Chawla has 14 wickets to his name against the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Only Delhi's Amit Mishra boasts a better record against RR. Chawla bagged these 14 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 25.21. Robin Uthappa has 302 runs against the Royals. He has scored these runs in 13 innings at an average of 25.16.
Chasing records
Milestones that can be achieved
D'Arcy Short needs just 13 more runs to reach the 1,000 run-mark in Twenty20 cricket. Short also needs one more four to complete 100 fours in the T20 format. Sanju Samson is just shy of 73 runs to become 5th player to score 1,000 runs in the IPL for Rajasthan. KKR's Chris Lynn is 3 runs short of completing 3,000 T20 runs.
In form
Narine is back to his devastating best
Narine has the best economy in the IPL so far conceding just 82 runs in his 15 overs at 5.46 per over. He also has the best bowling average at 11.71. Ben Stokes has a strike rate of close to 150 against pace this year. However, his strike rate against spin drops to 57.1 scoring just 8 runs off 14 balls.
Nemesis
Narine has caused RR too much trouble
Samson has scored at a strike rate of 80.76 against Narine and has been dismissed twice in 26 balls. Rahane too has struggled to cope with Narine. Since 2013, the RR skipper has been dismissed thrice by the spinner in 36 balls while conceding just 33 runs. Since 2013, Jaydev Unadkat has bagged Uthappa's wicket twice in 17 balls while giving away 21 runs.
10 runs away
Dinesh Karthik and the case of dot balls
KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik has faced 29 dots between overs 7 to 15. This is the most any batsman in this edition of the IPL. Karthik has managed to score 78 runs off 68 balls in the middle overs at a rate of 6.88 per over. Rajasthan Royals wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler needs ten more runs to complete 13,000 runs in his professional career.
Pitch report
Spinners to play a key role at Jaipur
The first game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur was interrupted by rain but the weather forecast for this fixture predicts that the rain gods will not play spoilsport. The boundaries at Jaipur are big thus spinners will have a key role to play tonight. Bowlers might get some early assistance but 170 should be a competitive score on this pitch.