IPL 2021: Eliminator, RCB vs KKR Match Prediction – Who will win today’s IPL match?

Preview

Royal Challengers Bangalore are set to lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator of the 2021 Indian Premier League on Monday, October 11 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The Eoin Morgan-led Knights had a disastrous campaign in India as they won only two out of seven games.

But in the UAE, the Men in Gold and Purple came out all guns blazing and won five out of seven games to go into the playoffs. The Challengers, on the other hand, have also been impressive as well. The team, led by Virat Kohli, finished third on the table with 18 points from 14 games in the event.

They could have finished second, but Chennai Super Kings edged them out on net run rate. Both teams will be high on confidence after winning their respective last matches. Even as the Challengers beat the Delhi Capitals in Dubai, the Knight Riders thrashed the Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah itself.

Match Details

Match – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Eliminator

Venue – Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Time – 7:30 PM IST, 02:00 PM GMT

Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch in Sharjah hasn’t been an overly great one for batting. Run-making in the powerplay will hold a lot of importance. When the ball gets old, it becomes tough to score runs. Chasing should be the way forward as five out of eight games have been won by the chasing teams.

Avg first innings score: 137 (8 matches in the IPL 2021 at Sharjah)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 5, Lost – 3, Tied – 0

Probable Playing XIs:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Dan Christian, Harshal Patel, George Garton, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Bench: Akash Deep, Tim David, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Sachin Baby, Navdeep Saini, Kyle Jamieson

Kolkata Knight Riders

Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy

Bench: Karun Nair, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Tim Southee, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Harbhajan Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Vaibhav Arora, Andre Russell, Prasidh Krishna

Head-to-Head

Overall

Played – 29 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 16 | Royal Challengers Bangalore– 13 |N/R – 0

In the UAE

Played – 4 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 2 | Royal Challengers Bangalore– 2 |N/R – 0

Probable best batsman of the match

Virat Kohli— Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli hasn’t quite had the campaign he would have expected to when the IPL got underway back in April. The right-hander has notched 14 games in which he has scored only 366 runs at an average of 28.15 and a strike rate of 119.60. In his previous two outings against KKR, Kohli flattered to deceive. He will look to get some runs in the crunch encounter.

Probable best bowler of the match

Varun Chakravarthy– Kolkata Knight Riders

Varun Chakravarthy has been outstanding for the Knight Riders in the second leg of IPL 2021. In the entire tournament, the tweaker has notched 16 wickets from 14 games at an incredible economy rate of 6.50. The last time when KKR met RCB, Chakravarthy became the Player of the Match after he picked up three wickets and gave away only 13 runs.

Today’s match prediction: The team, batting second to win the match.

Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.