IPL: In-form KKR to lock horns with resurgent RR in Eliminator

Kolkata [India], May 23 (ANI): Following a cracking first play-off match of the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between two-time winners Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the attention will now switch to the Eliminator where resurgent Rajasthan Royals will come up against `home favourite` Kolkata Knight Riders here at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
KKR have had an excellent IPL campaign this year as they won eight of their 14 group stages match, including their last three matches to storm into the playoffs.
The Dinesh Karthik-led side defeated table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in their last league fixture of the IPL season.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, once had just three wins in hand and were placed at the bottom of the table following their ninth IPL match.
However, Rajasthan rebounded strongly and rode on England batsman Jos Buttler's three consecutive match-winning knocks to finish the group stage at the fourth spot.
But, Rajasthan would head into the match without the services of England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, who have flown back to England to fulfill national duties.
While the winner of this match will lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 on May 25 for a place in the finals, it will end of the IPL journey for the IPL team that loses this match.
A plenty of trial by spin can be expected in this contest as the two sides consist of outstanding spinners.
KKR's Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, and Piyush Chawla, as well as RR's K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal, have dismissed many opponents this season.
However, KKR have been the most productive as far as the team with the best spin bowling attack in the 2018 IPL is concerned, with their spinners having bagged a total of 45 wickets.
The two squads are as follows:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik (Captain/Wicket-keeper), Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Johnson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, Nitish Rana, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Tom Curran, Prasidh Krishna.
Rajasthan Royals: Heinrich Klassen, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ajinkya Rahane, Darcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror.(ANI)