Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore have had contrasting routes to the playoffs. While Bangalore maintained their third place from the first half into the UAE leg, Kolkata made a remarkable turnaround to move from seventh place in the first half to fourth in the second phase of the tournament.
Now the equation is simple: The one that wins faces the loser of Qualifier 1 while it will be the end of the road for the other team. Bangalore had beaten Kolkata by 38 runs during the first phase of the tournament in India. But when the two sides met in Abu Dhabi, Kolkata secured a crushing nine-wicket win after bowling out RCB for 92.
Talking about the Dream 11 team of this match, the quality that both the team possesses, makes anyone's job tougher to pick the best XI
Let's take a look at what can be the strongest Dream 11 team in KKR vs RCB match
Wicket-keeper (Srikar Bharat/Dinesh Karthik)
Srikar Bharat has been the revelation this IPL and his last-match heroics against Delhi Capitals has turned into a legend. Factually speaking, the wicket-keeper batter has been consistently providing runs up the order and is a valuable asset. In case you are willing to play more than one wicket-keeper then don't hesitate to pick Dinesh Karthik, who has return to form and finishing off KKR innings well.
Batter (Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana)
RCB's Devdutt Padikkal and KKR's Shubman Gill are among the safest bets to pick among batters as the duo have been in form. Padikkal did score a duck in the last match but takes away nothing from him as far as his brilliant run with the bat is concerned. Shubman, on the other hand, has scored back-to-back fifties and looks eager to score more. Middle-order batter Nitish Rana has been scoring consistently as well with 30-odd innings but has failed to turn them into big knocks, will today be the day when he goes all the way?
All-rounder (Glenn Maxwell, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine)
Glenn Maxwell's fiery form needs no introduction and is an automatic pick for the line-up. So is Venkatesh Iyer, who solved KKR's opening issues in the UAE leg. Sunil Narine has been firing with the bat down the order as well while coming in handy in picking wickets in the middle overs.
Bowler (Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakraborty, Lockie Ferguson)
RCB bowler Harshal Patel is just three wickets away form breaching IPL's season wicket-taking record and is a must for any XI. Mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty also has been a valuable asset to his team as he continues to be the strike bowler of his team. Further two KKR pacers Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson find place in the XI with the latter terrorising batters with his express pace and variations; making the Kiwi a vital cog in team's comeback in the UAE. Mavi, on the other hand, has been a late bloomer with seven wickets in the last three games, including four-wicket haul to dismantle SRH.
PREDICTED PLAYING 11
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Dan Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
PITCH REPORT
The Sharjah surface has mostly required batters to spend time on it before going gung-ho but failing to settle down could only bring you more trouble. One can expect the side winning the toss to bat first and put on a sizeable total.
WEATHER UPDATES
It's expected to be a warm and humid day in Sharjah with the temperature fluctuating around 30 degrees in the evening. The teams are expected no respite from the heatwave while rain interruption is not a possibility.
LIVE STREAMING
You can see the IPL 2021 RCB vs KKR Live Streaming Online on Hotstar and JIOTV, and TV Telecast on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, and Star Sports HD channels.
