Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) lock horns with each other in the 56th Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) match at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Thursday, May 11. Both KKR and RR enter this game with five wins from 11 matches and will clash for the valuable two points to take a positive step toward playoff qualification in IPL 2023.
Nitish Rana-led side beat Punjab Kings on the last ball thriller in their last game and have recorded three wins in their last four matches with much improved all-round form. On the other hand, Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad while defending 214 runs. The Royals maintain a positive net run rate and sit one place ahead of the Knight Riders in the points table. But Kolkata's recent form and their past head-to-head record against Rajasthan Royals put them in the favorites category for this crucial game.
KKR vs RR Probable Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma (Impact Player)
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Joe Root, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldip Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal (Impact Player)
KKR vs RR Head-to-Head Record
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders edge out the last season's runner-up Rajasthan Royals in head-to-head record. Both teams have clashed in 27 IPL matches so far, with Kolkata winning 14 matches and Rajasthan recording wins on 12 occasions. Rajasthan Royals have won nine games while batting first against Kolkata while the latter dominates the head-to-head record while batting second with 10 wins.
Matches Played - 27 | KKR Win - 14 | RR Win - 12 | NR - 1
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Head-to-Head Record at Eden Gardens
It's not a big difference to cover for Rajasthan Royals but they lack considerably in head-to-head record against Kolkata at Eden Gardens. Both teams have locked horns with each other in nine IPL games at Eden Gardens where Kolkata have recorded dominantly six wins to Rajasthan's two wins.
Matches Played - 9 | KKR Win - 6 | RR Win - 2 | NR - 1
KKR vs RR Last Encounter
Both teams last faced each other during IPL 2022 edition in the group-stage fixture at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Skipper Sanju Samson registered a fifty to help Rajasthan post a total of 152/5 while batting first. But Rinku Singh's 42* off 23 helped KKR chase the target with seven wickets and five balls remaining.
