IPL 2023: Match 9th Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - Match preview and result prediction

Kolkata Knight Riders hosting Royal Challengers Bangalore is always exciting for cricket. Given their head-to-head record and a rich history playing at the Eden Gardens, the fans are up for a great game of cricket on Thursday night. While RCB is roaring following their massive win over Mumbai Indians, Kolkata will try and find their feet after going down against Punjab Kings in their opener.

On Wednesday only, KKR announced the signing of England’s World Cup-winning opener Jason Roy, but he is unlikely to feature in tonight’s game. The same goes for seamer Lockie Ferguson, who missed the first match but has returned to bowling half run-ups in the nets.The absence of Litton Das means Kolkata could stick with Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top of the order, whereas, Anukul Roy could get another game, given how spinners fare on the Eden track, particularly against RCB.

On the other hand, injury woes continue for the Bangalore team also, who will miss left-armer Reece Topley for this clash. The English international dislocated his shoulder in RCB’s first match, but has travelled to Kolkata with the team despite that. His compatriot, David Willey, could get a game today. On a brighter note, RCB’s star-studded top order is again likely to make headlines, with Virat Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis expected to provide them with a good start.

Meanwhile, Kolkata’s Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have enjoyed their outing against RCB in the past and will pose threat this time too.

While the hosts are likely to play the same XI, RCB will be forced to make a change at least.

Result Prediction -

While RCB are carrying the winning momentum, Kolkata will have an edge over them in tonight's game at the Eden Gardens.

Here are the predicted XIs of both teams for tonight’s game –

KKR: Mandeep Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (captain), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee

RCB: Faf du Plessis (captain), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, David Willey and Karn Sharma

The match begins at 7:30 PM IST at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata.