Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will look to seal the play-off berth when they square off against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the evening game of Thursday's doubleheader in Sharjah. Kolkata, currently sitting fourth on the points table with 12 points, are competing with defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) for the fourth spot. A win against the Royals will assure the purple-clad outfit a top-four finish.
Rajasthan, on the other hand, will look to wrap up their topsy-turvy campaign on a positive note. The Sanju Samson-led side is still in the fray for the final playoff berth but a defeat against Kolkata will officially end their campaign. The Royals are on 10 points -- tied with Punjab Kings -- with one game left to play. While the race for the fourth spot is realistically between Kolkata and Mumbai, Rajasthan will look to notch up a big win and turn things around in the Net Run Rate column.
Predicted XI
KKR Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy
RR Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Kuldip Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
Dream11 Predictions
Wicketkeeper (Sanju Samson)
The Royals have been hit hard by the form of their Indian batsmen but skipper Sanju Samson has been able to deliver at the top. With 483 runs in 13 games at an average of 43.90, the Kerala batter will look to consolidate his position in the top run-scorers list. He is currently on the fourth spot.
Batsmen (Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ewin Lewis)
Shubman Gill scored a fine half-century in KKR's last match but Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana have been performing consistently for the franchise. Tripathi too has been impressive this season, scoring 356 runs in 13 games at an average of over 30. He is also Kolkata's leading run-scorer this season. Rana is second with 335 runs in this edition so far including two fifties.
Lewis and Jaiswal have been able to provide Royals with brisk starts. Against Chennai Super Kings, the duo put up a 77-run opening stand in the Powerplay, helping RR chase down 189 in Abu Dhabi.
All-rounder (Venkatesh Iyer, Shakib Al Hasan)
The induction of ShakibAal Hasan in the last match for the first time in the second leg has given a new dimension to the Kolkata outfit. The star Bangaladesh all-rounder against SunRisers Hyderabad conceded just 20 runs in his spell, picked up the wicket of Abhishek Sharma; and also ran Kane Williamson out.
Venkatesh Iyer has been the star performer in the second leg for KKR. In six games so far, the left-hander has scored 201 runs including two half-centuries. He has also picked three wickets.
Bowler (Varun Chakravarthy, Chetan Sakariya, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee)
Sunil Narine has been Kolkata's spin-bowling spearhead but Varun Chakravarthy has stepped his game up this season. The "mystery spinner" has been among the wickets this season, plucking 15 wickets so far.
Lockie Ferguson has resumed training and might replace Shivam Mavi in Kolkata's pace attack, teaming up with Tim Southee or Prasidh Krishna. Young Chetan Sakariya will also look to add a few more wickets to his name. He is currently third among Rajasthan's top wicket-takers this season, with 13 wickets under his belt with as many games.
PITCH REPORT
Sharjah has witnessed low-scoring games so far in IPL 2021, with teams finishing with a total of less than 140-150. The last IPL encounter at the venue saw the Royals being restricted to 90/9 against Mumbai.
WEATHER REPORT
The weather will remain warm and humid with the temperature fluctuating between 28-30 degrees Celsius during the evening game.
LIVE STREAMING
You can watch the IPL 2021 KKR vs RR Match 54 Live Online on Hotstar and TV Telecast on Star Sports Network.
