Mumbai: Aiming to find a place in the play-offs, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) face off in a do-or-die clash in their last Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 league stage encounter at the Brabourne Stadium here on Saturday.
Rajasthan, after their loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 10, have dropped to fifth position with 14 points from 13 games, while KKR still held on to their second spot with 15 points from 13 games after being beaten by Mumbai Indians on Thursday.
A win for either team will ensure them a place in play-offs while the losing side will be knocked out of the tournament.
The two teams earlier met in the first leg on April 26 in Kolkata where the game was abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowled. Both teams come into Saturday’s game after loss in their last respective matches.
Rajasthan were beaten by CSK by 12 runs in their last match. Choosing to bat, CSK posted a modest 157 runs on board, in reply Rajasthan lost wickets at regular intervals although their batsmen got good starts, thus managed to reach 145/9 in 20 overs.
“We will give our 100 per cent against Royals on Saturday and see what happens,” KKR all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said after losing to Mumbai.
“We started well with the ball. But the way we ended in the last five, that part we can improve. We should have finished the game against Mumbai after a few boys having scored runs. But we failed,” he said.
Shakib also defended teammate Piyush Chawla for not taking the defending champions across the finish line with his bat. Needing 12 off the final over bowled by Kieron Pollard, Chawla played out a few dot balls and KKR were stopped at 166 for seven against the home team’s 171 for four.
“He [Pollard] bowled well, but we could have executed our shot selection better. Twelve runs in the last over always bring pressure on the batsmen. If you can’t make the right selection it will be difficult. Sometimes it goes for you and other times, it goes against. We are all humans and we all make mistakes,” said Shakib.
The champions’ batting will again rely on top three skipper Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey who has been consistent right through the mega event.
Their bowlers Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Andre Russell will look to give their best.
On the other hand, the Royals will be again heavily dependent on in-form opener Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Steve Smith and James Faulkner to fire for the home side in the crucial tie.
