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Only a few weeks ago, there was a big gap between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals on the points table. While Knight Riders were riding on one big knock after another from Andre Russell, Royals were losing one match after the other. All that has changed. They are now placed alongside each other on the table, with Knight Riders placed sixth and Royals seventh, with eight and six points respectively.

Knight Riders' journey has been very disappointing, chiefly because of their initial tempo. They have lost five consecutive matches now - they have failed to take early wickets, they are dropping catches, and they have leaked runs at the worst rate for any team this season (9.10). As for the reliance on Russell, his knocks of 65 off 25 balls, 45 off 21, and 50 not out off 44 have also resulted in losses, and there is a lot of back and forth about his batting position, especially after the loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Knight Riders know they have to get their act together before the qualification train leaves them behind.

Time is running out for Royals too, as it's a must-win for them. To add to that, they have learnt that individual centuries don't necessarily win you T20s, and their foreign contingent is shrinking rapidly, not to mention Ashton Turner's three ducks in a row in the IPL (and five in all T20s). Royals were already without Jos Buttler, who left early because of the birth of his child, and will lose Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer too after Thursday. How they will balance the XI for their last three games is another headache, but for now they need to ensure they at least beat Knight Riders with a near full-strength squad.

Royals also need to up their batting game in the death overs; they have the third-lowest scoring rate in the period this IPL and need their big hitters to step up.

In the news

Stokes has been far from impressive this season, but Buttler is Royals' second-highest scorer so far and Archer is their second-highest wicket-taker as well as their most economical bowler among those who have bowled more than five overs. Royals' best hope will be if Stokes and Archer fire together before they are forced to change the combination.

For Knight Riders, Joe Denly, a part of England's World Cup squad, has flown back home early. He even played a one-day match after reaching England, scoring a half-century for Kent on Tuesday.

Previous meeting

These two teams met just over two weeks ago in Jaipur, and Knight Riders thrashed Royals - without Russell having to bat. Hosts this time, Knight Riders will draw confidence from that match as they look to notch up the wins again.

Likely XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Shubman Gill, 6 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Harry Gurney, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Ashton Turner, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Riyan Parag, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Shreyas Gopal, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni

Strategy Punt

• Royals could think of getting Ish Sodhi back in the XI. In all T20s, he has conceded only 30 runs off 29 balls against Lynn, and 17 off 23 against Karthik (including a dismissal).

• Make Sunil Narine open the bowling, not just the batting. He has dismissed Rahane thrice in 52 balls in T20s, while conceding only 69 runs.

• Despite being an occasional wristspinner himself, Steven Smith doesn't have a great record against the breed in the IPL since 2015. He has managed only 214 runs against them off 191 balls, and been dismissed four times.

• Royals should look to bowl Archer to Shubman Gill as soon as the batsman comes out to bat. Four of Gill's five dismissals this season have come against fast bowlers and he has scored only 74 runs off 73 balls against them, with a dot-ball percentage of 37.

Stats that matter

• The last time Royals beat Knight Riders was way back in 2015. Of course, Royals didn't play in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, but they have lost their last four clashes against Knight Riders. Worse, they have won only one of their eight matches in Kolkata in all these years of the IPL.

• Karthik's average of 16.70 is his second-worst in any IPL season and his worst since IPL 2016. It's a steep fall after averaging nearly 50 in 2018.

• Rahane is 87 runs away from the 5000 mark in T20s and Stokes needs two sixes to reach 100 in the format.

• Gurney needs one more wicket and Sodhi needs three more to reach 150 in T20s.

• Steven Smith needs two more runs to get to 2000 in the IPL.

• Knight Riders' next win will be their 100th in T20s.

• Knight Riders and Royals have leaked runs at the same rate during the middle phase (overs seven to 15) this IPL: 8.8.