Riding high on confidence and momentum, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be looking to win back-to-back games at the Eden Gardens when they host the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday. With both teams on 10 points from 11 games (RR have the better net run rate right now), this is effectively a knockout match, with the winner remaining in the hunt for the playoffs and the loser as good as out of contention.
The two franchises have met 26 times over the past 15 seasons, with KKR triumphing 14 times compared with RR’s 10 wins. The two remaining games between the franchises went into the super over. Nobody has scored more runs in this fixture than Ajinkya Rahane (who has played for both sides) with 340, followed by Shane Watson on 304 and Yusuf Pathan (who also represented both teams) on 292. On the wickets column, Shivam Mavi is the surprise leader with 13 scalps, ahead of Sunil Narine’s 12 and Shakib Al Hasan’s 10.
Before KKR and RR renew their rivalry in IPL 2023, My Kolkata would like to refresh your memories by revisiting three key moments from KKR-RR encounters over the years.
Chahal’s brilliance helps RR clinch a cliffhanger
Dinesh Karthik on his way to a match-defining innings in the eliminator of 2018
TT archivesIn one of the most entertaining games from last season’s IPL, RR put on a massive 217 runs on the board at Brabourne stadium, with Jos Buttler continuing his golden run of form with a fabulous century. In reply, KKR seemed to be coasting along, with Aaron Finch and Shreyas Iyer in control, until the former was dismissed by Prasid Krishna. Thereafter, the match was all about one man, Yuzvendra Chahal, who turned the game on its head. Chahal, who had already dismissed Nitish Rana in the 14th over, bowled an unbelievable 17th, picking up four wickets, including a hat-trick, to seal an exceptional win for the Royals.
KKR eliminate RR thanks to Karthik and Russell
RR players erupt in ecstasy as the fine print of rules gives them the tightest of wins over KKR in 2014
TT archivesThe pressure was on when KKR hosted RR for the playoff eliminator during IPL 2018 at the Eden Gardens. A captain’s knock of 52 off 38 from Dinesh Karthik and a furious flurry of a 49 from Andre Russell guided the Knights to a challenging total of 169. Up until the 14th over, RR were in the driver’s seat, but some tight KKR bowling and complacent finishing from Rajasthan meant RR fell short by 25 runs despite having six wickets in hand.
RR prevail by the tightest of margins
RR players erupt in ecstasy as the fine print of rules gives them the tightest of wins over KKR in 2014
TT archivesThe IPL served up one of its all-time classics when KKR and RR met in Abu Dhabi in late April 2014. At the end of 40 overs, both teams had finished on 152, with outstanding performances from Rahane with the bat and James Faulkner with the ball. During the super over, it was KKR who had the first swing, managing 11 runs, with Faulkner not straying too much from his plan. Watson and Steven Smith walked out to chase for RR, with Narine given the responsibility to restrict them. After just four runs came off the first three balls, Watson slogged his way to a boundary. A single off the next ball meant that Smith needed to pinch at least three runs off the final ball to give RR the win. Instead, he could only manage a couple, which meant that the super over had been tied, too! However, as per the rules, RR were declared the winners by virtue of hitting more boundaries in the game.
