Two home wins, a tight match that went right down to the super over followed by a record chase in Bengaluru, DK and his Knights haven't put a step wrong yet as they face Rajasthan Royals in tonight's double-header of Vivo IPL 2019.
Royals will also be pumped-up and will look to keep the momentum going after registering their maiden Vivo IPL 2019 win against RCB.
Head to Head
RR: 9 | KKR: 9 (Overall)
RR: 3 | KKR: 2 (At Sawai Mansingh Stadium)
Royals are one of the toughest teams to beat in their backyard. Big boundaries also make it tougher for batsmen to just go out and whack at everything.
Overall, KKR have won 9 and lost 9 (two in super overs) matches against RR. DK & his Knights will be high on confidence as they handed RR three defeats in IPL 2018, something that will be in the mind of Royals' Skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
Piyush Chawla in Jaipur
Skipper Dinesh Karthik will rely heavily on the experience of Piyush Chawla and his record at this venue. The leggie is the most experienced bowler in our unit. In T20s, he has bowled at an economy of 7.4 and taken 16 wickets at this venue, the most by any of current KKR players. The second best is Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine (two wickets each).
Andre Russell during chase - since 2015
The Jamaican is one of the most dangerous batsmen of the league. The numbers speak for Dre Russ that makes him a vital cog during any chase. In 12 successful chases for KKR, the all-rounder has 357 runs at a strike-rate of 196. He has tonked 28 sixes in those innings.
KKR News:
Dinesh Karthik will be more than happy with the way his batters have performed. Nitish Rana, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell, all have chipped in and played a few vital innings. Chris Lynn was also among runs against RCB and will look to keep up the pace against the Royals tonight.
The only thing that will concern Skipper Dinesh Karthik will be the inexperience of KKR bowlers in Jaipur. Except for Piyush Chawla, no current KKR bowlers have more than two wickets to their name in T20s at Jaipur. With different conditions, the bowlers will have to adapt quickly.
RR News:
Royals finally got their first win of the season against RCB in a closely fought encounter and will be aiming for some momentum in the upcoming matches.
The trio of Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer haven't lived up to their expectations as all three have gone for a few runs so far. Shreyas Gopal was the gamechanger for RR against RCB and Rahane will bank a lot on his leggie in the middle overs.
RR is second last in the points table and will rue the chances they had in all three losses.
Teams:
RR: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Steve Smith, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Ish Sodhi, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Liam Livingstone, Varun Aaron, Jos Buttler, Shashank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi
KKR: Dinesh Karthik (C & WK), Carlos Brathwaite, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Shrikant Mundhe, Harry Gurney, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Nikhil Naik, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Chris Lynn, Rinku Singh, KC Cariappa, Joe Denly, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Robin Uthappa
Last Five Meetings
RR 2-3 KKR
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Date & Time: Sunday, 7th April 2019, 8 PM
