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The fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League has reached its culmination phase. Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders will be the four teams fighting for the title in the playoffs. On October 11, Virat Kohli’s men will take on Eoin Morgan’s Knight Riders at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
RCB have had an outstanding campaign in the IPL 2021 right from the outset, winning nine games to secure third place with 18 points. They missed out on the top two finishes due to their negative net run-rate of -0.140 compared to CSK’s +0.445.
The Royal Challengers botched their chance of finishing top two with a three-wicket loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad. But they ended the league stage on a positive note where they defeated Delhi Capitals by seven wickets, courtesy of KS Bharat, Glenn Maxwell’s fifties and a last ball six from Bharat.
Kolkata Knight Riders were reeling at the seventh spot at the halfway stage of the tournament, winning two out of seven matches. They made an incredible comeback in the UAE leg with five victories from seven games and securing fourth place with 14 points, edging Mumbai Indians by virtue of their superior net run-rate of +0.587. In their last league game, KKR steamrolled Rajasthan Royals at Sharjah by 86 runs.
Key players
One of the best T20 players in the world, Glenn Maxwell has been the biggest story in the ongoing Premier League season. He has been the MVP for RCB, having scored 498 runs in 13 innings at an average of 47.27 and strike rate of 147.33.
The Aussie all-rounder has smashed six fifties in the tournament, matching his tally from all the previous seasons combined.
Shubman Gill is highly rated within the cricketing spheres for his crazy potential. After an abysmal performance in the first half of the season, Gill has looked a different player in the UAE. The KKR opener has 352 runs in the season at an average of 25.14 and scoring rate of 119.32.
Gill has scored 48, 30, 57 and 56 in four of the seven innings in the UAE. Shubman has been brilliant on tricky decks and will be a key player for KKR in the eliminator.
Varun Chakravarthy is arguably the best Indian spinner going around. The mystery spinner has control, variations and speed to outfox the batters. He has been outstanding for KKR in this edition, being their top wicket-taker with 16 scalps from 14 games at an economy of 6.50 rpo.
His best figures of the season were 3/13 against none other than RCB at Abu Dhabi. Against a batting unit that has struggled against spin barring Maxwell, Chakravarthy’s four overs could well be match-defining.
Yuzvendra Chahal has given a befitting reply to his exclusion from the WC squad and the criticism he received in recent months. The leg-spinner has been magnificent on UAE’s slow surfaces in this second phase of the IPL 2021.
Chahal has 16 wickets to his name this season at an economy of 7.30, with 12 of those coming in the UAE. The RCB leggie, who has 239 wickets in his T20 career at 7.57 rpo, will have a huge role to play in the eliminator.
Prediction
The head to head record between these two teams is in favour of Kolkata Knight Riders, leading by 16 to 13 from 29 clashes. After four straight losses against Royal Challengers Bangalore, KKR broke the streak in this UAE leg.
RCB, in turn, have had their issues, but Maxwell has been the biggest impact player in the batting department. The form of Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and AB de Villiers could be a concern while their lower middle order needs strengthening. The bowling attack has done exceedingly well, with Harshal Patel donning the purple cap and great support from Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj.
The Riders have looked extremely solid in the second leg despite facing injury concerns. Shubman Gill’s return to form has been immense for them, while the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana have been brilliant. The bowling unit looks very potent, with Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson and Shivam Mavi doing major damage.
The likely return of all-rounder Andre Russell will only strengthen the side. Being a more all-round unit, KKR will head into the game as favourites.
