IPL 2019, Match 17, RCB vs KKR: One key player from either team
The 17th match of IPL 2019 will be played between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on April 5 at 8 PM IST.
RCB and KKR have thus come across each other 23 times in the IPL, with the Kolkata outfit winning 14 of those encounters and Bangalore the remaining 9. KKR are two-time winners of IPL, while RCB are yet to win the title, despite reaching the final three times.
Parthiv Patel, with 138 runs, is currently leading the batting charts for RCB this season, while Yuzvendra Chahal is their leading wicket-taker with 8 scalps to his name; he is currently the holder of the Purple Cap. On the other hand, Andre Russel leads the batting charts for KKR with 159 runs and he is also the franchise's leading wicket-taker (5).
Team-wise, KKR look more settled and they will start as favourites to win today's match.
On that note, let’s take a look at one player from each team who could have a significant impact in today's match.
Royal Challengers Bangalore - Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel is the only batsman who is scoring runs consistently for RCB this season. He has 2613 IPL runs from 129 matches in total.
This year, he has scored 138 runs from 4 matches, which includes a fifty against RR. He is currently opening the batting for RCB and doing his role responsibly.
With all the other batsmen struggling to find form, RCB will hope Parthiv racks up the runs in the upcoming matches as well.
Kolkata Knight Riders - Lockie Ferguson
Lockie Ferguson came to the IPL after New Zealand's ODI series against Bangladesh where he picked 5 wickets from 3 matches. He is known for his raw pace as he can consistently bowl at 140 Kmph.
At the 2019 auctions, his base price was ₹1 crore and KKR bought him for ₹1.60 crores. However, he has not been able to deliver for the Kolkata team so far. He has managed to pick up only 2 wickets from 3 matches, and his combined figures read - 14-0-114-2.
Being the lead bowler of the team, he is expected to pick more wickets in the coming matches and add enough firepower to the KKR bowling line-up.
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