KKR sweat over Sunil Narine and Andre Russell as in-form RCB loom
Virat Kohli has scores of 100, 84 and 68 in his last three games against the Knight Riders
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Likely XIs
Strategy punts
- The Knight Riders could bowl spin with the new ball because Finch has struggled against that style of bowling this season. He has faced spin in five innings and has been dismissed four times, while averaging just 14.8. They could perhaps even play Kuldeep Yadav to target Finch first up: across all T20s, Finch averages just 6.3 against the left-arm wristspinner, having been dismissed four times in five innings by him.
- The Royal Challengers could save Yuzvendra Chahal for Eoin Morgan, and ask the legspinner to bowl slower to him than usual. Morgan loves spinners who bowl quicker at him, and the numbers back that up. Morgan hasn't been dismissed yet this season by spin bowling at over 90kph, but averages just 5.70 when spinners slow it down.
Stats and trivia
- With 223 runs, Kohli has scored the most runs among non-openers in IPL 2020. He is one among three non-openers to average over 50.
- Since 2018, Kohli's best numbers in the IPL have come against the Knight Riders: most runs (283), highest average (94.3), highest strike-rate (154) and the most fifty-plus scores (three). His last three scores against the Knight Riders are 100, 84 and 68.
- This season, AB de Villiers has averaged 53 when the Royal Challengers have batted first, but only 24.55 while chasing. His strike-rate fluctuates too: 189 in the first innings compared to 144 in the second.
- The Knight Riders have won three games batting first this season. The last time they achieved this feat was back in 2014 where they won the title.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo