3 player battles to watch out for in KKR vs RR, Match 56 in IPL 2023
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will square off against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 56th match of IPL 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, May 11.
Both teams are placed in the middle of the points table and are still in the race to make it to the playoffs.
KKR seem to have found their mojo at the right time, winning their last two games. The Knight Riders held their nerves to beat the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a last-ball thriller, with Andre Russell and Rinku Singh's cameos proving to be the deciding factor as Kolkata chased down 180 runs at Eden Gardens.
RR, on the other hand, were unlucky not to bag the two points in their last game against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). With five runs required off the last ball, SRH batter Abdul Samad holed out to Jos Buttler in the boundary, but pacer Sandeep Sharma overstepped. Samad struck a towering six off the free-hit delivery to add to Rajasthan's misery.
With five defeats in their last six matches, Sanju Samson and Co. just need to find a way to return to winning ways to keep themselves alive in the competition.
With both teams eyeing a playoff berth, an exciting contest is on the cards in Kolkata. The game will also witness a couple of matchups and player battles.
On that note, let's take a look at three player battles to watch out for in the KKR vs RR contest.
#1 Nitish Rana vs Yuzvendra Chahal
KKR skipper Nitish Rana is a good player of spin and has scored heavily against spinners this season.
However, his struggles against senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal are well documented. The wily RR spinner has dismissed Rana five times in the past and will look to trouble him once again tonight.
While Rana is known to be KKR's middle-overs enforcer, Chahal is proficient in picking up wickets during the 7-15 overs period. Hence, this duel might very well decide the outcome of the match.
#2 Sanju Samson vs Sunil Narine
RR skipper Sanju Samson has been one of the consistent performers for his side this season. He is the third-highest run-scorer for the Royals, amassing 308 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 154.77.
Although he will look to continue his fluent run of run against Kolkata, Samson is likely to be challenged by Sunil Narine. The right-handed batter has often struggled against the West Indian spinner, getting out to him thrice while striking at 82.
Both players will look to expand their dominance at Eden Gardens and it will be exciting to see who comes out on top.
#3 Shimron Hetmyer vs KKR's spinners
Rajasthan have been one of the worst-performing sides in the period between seven and 15 overs, losing 32 wickets in that time frame.
RR's middle-order woes are mainly due to Shimron Hetmyer's sudden slump in form. The southpaw has accumulated only 25 runs in his last six matches, and KKR will look to target him.
Kolkata are likely to deploy their spinners during the middle overs and keep RR's run rate under check. With Hetmyer predominantly batting in the middle overs, it will be interesting to see how he tackles the slower bowlers.