IPL 2018 KKR vs RR MATCH 49th REPORT CARD

When: Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

What to expect: There has been plenty of rain in the city leading up to the game but things remained clear on the eve of the clash. There's rain forecast on match day as well.

Team news

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shivam Mavi continues to struggle with the finger injury he picked up in the game against CSK. Though he bowled in the nets, Jacques Kallis, the coach, confirmed they are going to make a last minute call on his availability. If he does get fit, KKR will have to deal with another headache given Prasidh Krishna's impressive performance with the ball in Indore where batsmen dominated the game. With pace and bounce in the pitch, KKR might just move away from their strategy of playing three spinners - meaning one of Kuldeep Yadav or Piyush Chawla might have to sit out.

Probable XI: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, two of Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi and Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna.

Rajasthan Royals: The bounce in the pitch is something D'Arcy Short is certainly going to enjoy and the conditions could just work in his favour. Just one spot is likely to be debated in the team meeting but it's highly likely they will go in with an unchanged XI.

Probable XI: D'Arcy Short, Jos Buttler (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Head to Head

KKR 7 - 7 RR (Two ties, both won by RR)

Team Record at Eden Gardens

KKR 4 - 1 RR

RR have lost their last five IPL games at the Eden with their only win here coming in 2008.

Interesting face-offs

Narine vs Rahane: Narine has dismissed Rahane thrice in 44 balls conceding 59 runs. Other RR batsmen have generally struggled against Narine with Buttler scoring 26 off 24 (one dismissal), Stokes 13 off 13 (one dismissal) and Samson 21 off 26 (two dismissals).

IPL 2018 trends

KKR and RR have been two of the weakest bowling sides this IPL - KKR in terms of ER (9.41) and RR in terms of wickets captured (60).

In the five matches in May, Buttler has scored 48.38% of the total runs RR have made in the five games (389/804).

Russell has a strike rate of 196.15 against pace this IPL but has got out to pace nine times. In comparison, he has faced only 31 deliveries of spin without getting dismissed but strikes at only 145.16 against them.