Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 39th game of the IPL 2020 tournament in Abu Dhabi on October 21, 2020. KKR had lost the previous encounter to RCB by a big margin of 82 runs.
KKR lies on the fourth place in the points table, while RCB is third and both will be looking for those two points to inch closer to the playoffs qualification. The teams have found a new gear in their playing form and are looking ominous.
Here is the Predicted Playing XIs for the KKR v RCB match by Team COC.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
The KKR franchise has seemed never to find a consistent winning run in the tournament, but have won enough games to stay in contention for a playoff berth. They have 10 points from 5 wins in 9 matches so far. They even had a change of captaincy mid-season when Dinesh Karthik handed over the reins to Eoin Morgan, something that was widely expected, but not said out loud.
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In their last match, Lockie Ferguson breathed new life into their bowling attack with his speed and accuracy, earning them a tough super over win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Apart from him, Rahul Tripathi and Varun Chakravarthy have impressed a lot, while Shubman Gill has played the anchor role, keeping one end occupied and ticking.
However, it has backfired multiple times as the new batsman coming in doesn’t have time to settle after Gill has gotten out after playing quite a few balls. They might also want to bring in someone else, preferably Sunil Narine for Andre Russell, who injured his hamstring in the match against SRH and hobbled to bowl his last two overs.
KKR look set on earning two more points against RCB and have the perfect foil in Cummins and Ferguson to counter the AB de Villiers threat.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (RCB)
RCB has banked on the expertise and explosiveness of their veteran batsman AB de Villiers, who has been in scintillating form. His amazing half-century against Rajasthan Royals enabled RCB to make 50 odd runs in the last 5 overs to win a tough match.
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Virat Kohli has looked out of touch but has contributed vital runs, while Aaron Finch has blown hot and mostly cold throughout the season. Hence RCB might look to bring in Moeen Ali in his place to open the innings and get a few overs in as well. Devdutt Padikkal has done enough to warrant his place in the XI for the remaining matches.
One of the best things to happen to RCB this season is that their bowling has clicked for them in various stages of the matches and tournament. Chris Morris and Isuru Udana coming into the team have solved their death bowling problem and Morris has provided them with a big hitter to finish things off. Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal have been at their best as usual, while Washington Sundar has performed exceedingly well while bowling in the powerplays.
They might not make any change in their playing XI given not wanting to jinx something that has been going well.
KKR COC Predicted Playing XI:
Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Eoin Morgan (C), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
RCB COC Predicted Playing XI:
Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Gurkeerat Singh, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
