In IPL point chart, Kolkata Knight Riders are on third position, while Rajasthan Royals are on fourth. This two teams will lock horns today at the former’s home ground, Eden Gardens. It is the elimination round of IPL 2018 tournament. Both the teams had a fairly similar record in IPL playoff stage. In auction, Rajasthan Royals emerged as a team with some of the best overseas player. On the other hand, Kolkata assembled its players wisely and balanced. Throughout the games, both squads changed for the teams, tricking down to the best they had for the final rounds of the tournament.

Knight Riders are on a victory stretch beating Kings XI, the Royals as well as Sunrisers Hyderabad. While, The Rajasthan beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. In the upcoming faceoff, the Rajasthan squad would be fighting without some of their top bets. Such a player is Jos Buttler, the matchwinner for the team so far. With his absence, the middle order would be more exposed to eminent attacks off Kolkata bowlers.

Moreover, the team’s woeful record at Eden Gardens will make the game more of a challenge. So far, Rajasthan played seven matches at the stadium, while nicking only a single campaign. In the previous tussles, Kolkata had comfortable wins against Rajasthan. The match at Jaipur was a seven-wicket win for Kolkata.

In today’s IPL match, skipper Dinesh Karthik and Sunil Narine will be on spotlight for the home team. While Karthik emerged as a successful finisher, Narine played as one of the top strikers in powerplay overs. Narine has been especially effective against spinner, scoring 138 runs off 66 balls. In contrast, Chris Lynn has been quite puny against spinners, scoring 121 off 131 balls. Simon Katich, Kolkata coach is hopeful on the match as they have good experience of seven matches. Still, he emphasized that the Knight Riders will be starting from scratch in match.