IPL 2025: KKR meet high-flying RCB in must-win contest
What's the story
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 will resume after nearly a 10-day suspension with an exciting face-off between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru will host this much-awaited clash on May 17.
This encounter will be a rematch of the tournament's inaugural game, which was played on March 22 at Eden Gardens.
Here we present the match preview.
Team performance
RCB's strong position in IPL 2025
As the tournament resumes, RCB are in a commanding position with eight wins from 11 games.
A win in the upcoming game could guarantee them a playoff berth.
On the other hand, KKR are placed sixth with five wins and six losses to their name (NR: 1).
They must win both their remaining matches to keep their outside chances of going through alive.
Pitch details
Pitch conditions and streaming details
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is famous for high-scoring matches, where teams usually look to score over 200 runs.
However, fast bowlers can also do the trick with a new ball.
The average score for the team batting first at this venue is around 168 runs.
The match will be live streamed on JioHotstar (app and website) and Star Sports Network (7:30pm IST).
H2H
Head-to-head statistics
Over the years, the KKR-RCB rivalry has been nothing short of thrilling.
In their previous encounters, KKR has won 20 out of 35 matches, while RCB has emerged victorious on 15 occasions, as per ESPNcricinfo.
In their meeting earlier in the season, RCB registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win against KKR, chasing down a target of 175 runs in just 17 overs.
At home, RCB have just four wins and eight defeats against the defending champions.
XIs
Here are the predicted XIs
KKR (Probable XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarhty, Vaibhav Arora.
RCB (Probable XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt (wk), Jacob Bethell, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal.
Impact subs: Manish Pandey (KKR) and Suyash Sharma (RCB).
Stats
Here are the key performers
Virat Kohli has been on a roll this season, scoring 505 runs from 11 matches at 63.12.
Tim David has aced the finisher's role for RCB, scoring 186 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 193.75.
Krunal Pandya has claimed 14 wickets at a fine economy of 8.57.
KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been brilliant, having scalped 17 wickets at an economy of 7.
In the ongoing season, Ajinkya Rahane has scored 375 runs at a strike rate of 146.48.
Poll
