2:20 pm IST: We're into the second half of the tournament and the Royal Challengers will hope for better returns as they take the field after a six-day gap. They're on a 5-match losing streak and the hopes of making it to the playoffs have all but faded away. Faf du Plessis's team hasn't found the right formula as yet and they're smarting from the loss against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the bowlers took a pounding as they were smashed all across the Chinnaswamy, in a 287-run debacle. If there was any positive from that match, RCB responded well with the bat and finished with 262, the highest score by a chasing team in the IPL. Far too often, RCB's batters have fallen into the trap of setting themselves lower par scores and finding it well short of the requirement. They've now reached a position where they've nothing much to lose and plenty to gain. Can the RCB of old stage a comeback and keep themselves in with a chance of proceeding to the playoffs? On the other hand, today's game couldn't have come at an opportune time for the Knight Riders. They too have been well rested after having been beaten by the Rajasthan Royals. Yesterday's result has seen them slip out temporarily from the top-2 position, but they've things under control and will be keen to return back to winning ways. On that note, they couldn't have found  a better opponent in the Royal Challengers, a team that they've constantly dominated over the past few seasons.

Preview by Aayush Puthran

In the summer of 2019, in the press conference room of Kolkata's Eden Gardens, Andre Russell was facing the cameras and in an unrestrained rant went after questioning the decisions of his then-captain, Dinesh Karthik, who had come under fire following his team's six-match losing streak in the season. Four years later, in the same room, Karthik put up a brave front for his teammates. Even after swapping the purple for red, the position isn't too different for him with Royal Challengers Bengaluru going down five games in a row.

So what has experience of all these years taught Karthik? How does a team get out of this quicksand of defeats? "You need a lot of character in players," was his simple response.

The fault, again, isn't with Karthik's performance. If anything the last time he was at a ground, he was walking back to a standing ovation from the crowd despite his team's loss. The last time he was in front of the mic, he was asked of his aspirations to play for India again. But much like it was in 2019, the performances of his teammates aren't helping the side much.

Glenn Maxwell had opted out of the previous game, the middle order isn't able to control the games and the bowling lot despite all the combinations tried out hasn't been able to deliver. After having bled a record 286 in the previous game, they now march to a ground which had the highest total chased down in its previous game.

With the Impact Substitute rule, there has been no mercy shown on the bowlers this season, and RCB's batters - barring Karthik and to an extent Virat Kohli - just haven't inspired enough confidence to be up with those high scores that the oppositions are posting and chasing down. To add to it, they are coming up against a side that currently boasts of the best Net Run Rate, if not taking the top position on the points table. KKR are adding the finishing touches to all their departments that have been dominating this season.

However, for as well as KKR have played this season, the last-ball defeat to Royals in their previous game did rankle them. The question is - are RCB ready to pounce on that loss of momentum or are they too busy fixing their own problems?

When: Sunday, April 21, 2024, 3:30 PM IST

Where: KKR vs RCB, IPL 2024, Eden Gardens, Kolkata

What to expect: Even as both teams would be coming into the game well rested, they will be up against gruelling conditions. There is a heat wave sweeping Kolkata with an 'orange alert' alarmed. Excessive humidity will only make it more challenging for both teams in the afternoon game. Bowlers are going to have a tough time, so don't be surprised if the captain winning the toss opts to bat.

Teams Watch

Kolkata Knight Riders

Injuries and availability: Nitish Rana, who was out due to an injury for the early part of the tournament, is yet to play for KKR this season. Rinku Singh, who had a few niggles and played as an impact substitute in the previous game, had promised that he would be fielding in Sunday's clash.

Tactics & Matchups: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell have been tied down by Sunil Narine. If they do manage to get through the powerplay safely, they will need to find a way to ensure that they are not stagnated through the middle overs.

Probable XI: Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer/Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy [Impact Substitute: Vaibhav Arora]

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Injuries/Unavailability: Glenn Maxwell had opted out of the previous game citing mental fatigue. Whether he is fresh to return remains unknown.

Tactics & Matchups: Mohammed Siraj has had the upper hand against Sunil Narine, dismissing the southpaw twice in 11 balls and conceding only 12 runs. He will hold the key for RCB upfront, especially given that Narine has had the better of Yash Dayal and Alzarri Joseph in the IPL. Siraj also has dominated the battles against Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell.

Probable XI: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Alzarri Joseph, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj [Impact Substitute: Yash Dayal]

Did you know:

- KKR openers have the second best run-rate [11.66] among all teams in IPL 2024, while RCB openers have the second most runs [343]. SRH openers top the list for both [451 runs and run-rate of 13.07].

- RCB have tried out four players in seven innings at No 3, with all of them combining to score 81 runs in that position

- Dinesh Karthik has scored the most runs in death overs [16-20] in IPL 2024, and boasts of the best strike-rate [252.86] among all batters who have scored more than 100 runs in that period

What they said:

"The belief is definitely there. If there is no belief, there is no point playing in a tournament like the IPL. Every year, there have been teams at this stage, trying to find their feet, haven't had a great tournament. But there have been so many instances where they have picked up and won matches. We believe that if we can do something special, there have been a few matches, where we can get the momentum and use that to our advantage." - Dinesh Karthik

"In the last match, we didn't bowl well in the death overs. But before that, against LSG, we had done well. We had done our planning well, but need to improve on our execution. If we do that, we will get better [in the death overs]." - Vaibhav Arora on KKR's bowling.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Saurav Chauhan, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Reece Topley, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Suyash Prabhudessai, Swapnil Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma, Glenn Maxwell, Akash Deep, Rajan Kumar, Tom Curran, Mayank Dagar, Alzarri Joseph, Cameron Green, Manoj Bhandage, Himanshu Sharma

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Allah Ghazanfar, Sakib Hussain, Sherfane Rutherford, Chetan Sakariya, Nitish Rana, Srikar Bharat, Dushmantha Chameera