Welcome to Sportstar‘s LIVE coverage of the IPL 2021 Eliminator, Match 58 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). This is Santadeep Dey bringing you all the action as it unfolds at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
LIVE COMMENTARY
Stay tuned! The toss is scheduled to take place at 7PM IST.
MATCH PREVIEW
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders will meet in a clash of equals in the IPL Eliminator at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.
RCB, after three wretched seasons, has made the Playoffs in back-to-back years. In 2020, it lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator, and this time around, Virat Kohli would want to go much further and end his captaincy tenure at the franchise on a high.
For KKR, 2021 marks its first Playoffs appearance in three years. It has come after a remarkable run in the UAE, where the Eoin Morgan-led outfit has won five out of seven games after having recorded just two victories in the India leg.
Both Royal Challengers and Knight Riders come into the contest with winning momentum. On Friday against Delhi Capitals, RCB found a new hero in K. S. Bharat, who smashed a last-ball six to carry his team home. The confidence such a victory over a top-two side brings cannot be overstated.
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RCB has also been helped by a certain consistency in selection, going four straight games without a change. But for the odd rejig of the batting order – like Dan Christian at No. 3 – players seem to have well-defined roles.
Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal have continued to impress while Glenn Maxwell has been outstanding.
KKR has recorded back-to-back victories, with the second a thumping 86-run win over a hapless Rajasthan Royals on Thursday. Shubman Gill has returned to form with back-to-back fifties, ensuring that Venkatesh Iyer, KKR’s find of the season, doesn’t have to do all the heavy-lifting.
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Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana have been aggressive in the middle overs and how they handle Chahal at the sluggish but small Sharjah ground will be an interesting sub-plot. RCB’s batters will have a similar challenge against the spin combo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.
Speedster Shivam Mavi will be a threat, having picked up seven wickets in the last three matches, including a match-winning 4/21 against RR.
The sole area of concern for RCB and KKR will be the batting form of AB de Villiers and Morgan. Their lack of runs hasn’t hurt their respective sides yet, but a return to form now will be timely.
– N. Sudarshan
PREDICTED XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, George Garton, Dan Christian, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
RCB vs KKR DREAM 11 FANTASY TEAM
Wicketkeepers: Dinesh Karthik, K. Srikar-Bharat
Batters: AB de Villiers, Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill
All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Shakib Al Hasan
Bowlers: Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshal Patel (vc)
RCB 5/7 | KKR 6/7 | Credits left: 0.5
SQUADS
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (w), Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Andre Russell, Sandeep Warrier, Sheldon Jackson, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pawan Negi, Karun Nair, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Harbhajan Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sachin Baby, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, George Garton, Suyash Prabhudessai, Tim David, Akash Deep
AT WHAT TIME DOES TODAY’S IPL 2021 ELIMINATOR MATCH – RCB vs KKR START?
The IPL 2021 Eliminator match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore begins at 7:30 PM IST.
WHERE TO WATCH TODAY’S IPL ELIMINATOR MATCH – RCB vs KKR LIVE?
IPL 2021 will be aired live on Star Sports channels – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD. It will also be streamed live on Disney+Hotstar. You can also follow the live commentary and latest updates from IPL 2021 on Sportstar.
