Enduring a forgettable outing in the first half of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), two-time former champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look for reversal of fortunes when they resume their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second phase of the T20 league in Abu Dhabi on Monday (September 20).
While Virat Kohli’s RCB is third in the eight-team standings with 10 points from seven games, 2012 and 2014 champions KKR are languishing at the seventh spot with just two wins out of seven ties. And Eoin Morgan-led KKR would be hoping to make a turnaround, just like the 2014 edition when they won nine games in a row to claim the title.
But it would be easier said than done for KKR as they face RCB, a formidable outfit, whose captain Kohli would be gunning for success with the bat after announcing his decision to quit as India’s T20 skipper following the T20 World Cup which will be held after the IPL in UAE.
Notably, KKR leads in head-to-head record against RCB, winning 15 and losing 13 out of 28 fixtures played between the two sides, however, the 38-run defeat against Kohli's team in the first half of the event in Chennai would be fresh on their players' minds.
Also, the game against KKR will be Virat Kohli’s 200th game in the IPL, making him the first player to achieve the milestone with a single franchise. Overall, he is the fifth to achieve the feat, with MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, and Dinesh Karthik all having breached the 200-game mark earlier this season or last season.
Moreover, Kohli will aim to cross the 10,000 run mark in the T20s when his team takes on KKR. The Delhi-born batsman has so far scored 9929 runs in his T20 career, and if the RCB captain can score 71, he’d become the first Indian to breach the 10k mark in the 20-over career.
Take a look at some important stats ahead of the KKR vs RCB match:
Head-to-head
Played: 28
KKR won: 15
RCB won: 13
Virat Kohli leads the most runs list
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli is the leading run-getter in the KKR vs RCB games, scoring 730 runs. Chris Gayle, who has played for both KKR and RCB previously is second in the list with 631 runs to his name against the fixture in the IPL.
KKR vs RCB Probable XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (Captain), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Tim Southee, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers (Wk), Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Rajat Patidar, Pavan Deshpande
