Having opened their campaign on a disappointing note, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are preparing to face off in their second match of the season, slated to be held on Wednesday at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. Both teams come into this clash looking to bounce back after defeats in their opening encounters. With their eyes firmly set on securing their first points, the battle between them is set to deliver an action-packed contest.

It’s a home ground for RR captain Riyan Parag, who is leading RR in the first three games. Their last defeat came against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first match, losing the game by 44 runs. Rajasthan will have to step up their attack to pose a greater challenge to KKR. Their batting attack led by Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer was on fire but their bowlers lacked in their rhythm, leaking too many runs.

RR will hope to turn the page on their opening defeat and start their campaign with a win. On the other hand, KKR, defending champions, often seen as one of the more star-studded teams in the IPL, will be eager to prove their worth after a disappointing loss in their first outing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. 

KKR, who posses world-class players in the form of Andre Russell, de Kock and Venkatesh Iyer, will be hoping that they step up in this must-win encounter and fire on all cylinders to challenge RR. KKR bowlers Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana, who failed to execute their plans to perfection in the first match, going for plenty of runs, would be expected to lead a strangling bowling attack.  

Head to head

Matches - 30

KKR won - 14

RR won - 14

NR - 2

RR Probable XII: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag (c), Nitish Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Tushar Deshpande

KKR Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson/Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora.