Indian Premier League 2019 Match 16, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Royal Challengers Bangalore, the only team still without a win in IPL 2019 (despite having played four matches), will host Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 5.

Kolkata have done significantly better in the tournament, having beaten Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab. Their only defeat have come in a Super Over, against Delhi Capitals.

Andre Russell has easily been the outstanding player of the tournament. His 159 runs are the most for KKR this season, as are his 5 wickets. On the other hand, his strike rate of 248 and 15 sixes are the highest in the tournament.

Russell has found support in Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana, and whenever needed, the middle-order. Unfortunately, KKR’s bowling attack, especially their famous spinners, have not come off. Every single KKR bowler has gone for at least 8.50 an over.

Bangalore, on the other hand, have largely disappointed with bat. They have scored only two fifties, and only four of their batsmen – AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, and Parthiv Patel – have struck at over a run a ball. With 78 runs at a strike rate of 99, Virat Kohli has been a major disappointment till now.

The bowlers have done better. Yuzvendra Chahal holds the Purple Cap, and has gone for a mere 6.56 an over, while Mohammed Siraj has conceded 7.57. The match will largely be a contest between their bowlers and the KKR batsmen.

Head to head

Kolkata hold a 13-9 advantage here including a 2-0 outcome last season. RCB had scored 176/7 at Chinnaswamy, Brendon McCullum scoring 43 off 27, de Villiers 44 off 23, and Mandeep Singh 37 off 18. Sunil Narine’s 19-ball 50 set up the chase for KKR; they won by 4 wickets with 7 balls in hand.

An almost identical scoreline followed at Eden Gardens. This time Kohli (68* in 44) led the charge, taking RCB to 175/4 as Russell took 3/31. This time Chris Lynn (62*) batted through the innings as KKR won by 6 wickets with 5 balls to spare.

Key players

Parthiv Patel (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Parthiv has scored 138 runs in the tournament, 45 more than any other RCB batsmen. He batted through the innings against Chennai, and he might have made a difference in the Rajasthan match had he not been deprived of strike.

Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders): There is no stopping “Dre Rus” this time. His sixes have been enormous, and he has hit them once every four balls. He has turned matches on their heads in the death overs. And he has got vital wickets.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, Akshdeep Nath (wk), Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson.

Prediction

Kolkata to win, largely because of the momentum both sides carry going into the match.