Match 6 of the 2025 Indian Premier League season brings us a match-up between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Assam, on March 26.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
Both teams come into this game having been on the losing side in their opening encounters. While KKR lost to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Rajasthan Royals were royally thrashed by the SunRisers Hyderabad.
Having retained only a handful of players before the auction and letting go of Phil Salt and Shreyas Iyer could prove to be a fatal decision for the defending champions, as both of them were exceptional during last year’s title-winning run.
In their last game, put into bat, KKR started on a blistering note against RCB, with captain Ajinkya Rahane (56 off 31) and Sunil Narine (44 off 26) taking them to 107 in the opening ten overs. However, a batting collapse ensued after their departure, with Krunal Pandya turning the game with his spin and taking three crucial wickets in the middle. In the end, KKR could only manage 174/8 from their 20 overs.
In response, RCB openers Phil Salt (56 off 31) and Virat Kohli (59* off 36) gave them a great start, scoring 95 runs in 8.2 overs before Salt departed. Captain Rajat Patidar then came in and thrashed 34 runs off 16 balls to make the chase far easier as RCB cruised to a win in 16.2 overs.
On the other hand, even though their batting lineup is still explosive despite Jos Buttler’s exit, the Rajasthan Royals have lost two brilliant spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, and their fast-bowling lineup isn’t strong either.
In their last game, RR won the toss and put the SunRisers into bat. In response, top-order batters Travis Head (67 off 31), Abhishek Sharma (24 off 11), and Ishan Kishan (106* off 47) led SRH to a massive score of 286/6. Chasing the target, RR lost three wickets inside the first three overs, which made the chase all the more difficult. Sanju Samson (66 off 37) and Dhruv Jurel (70 off 35) did give them a glimmer of hope, but the target was too steep. Even late blitzes from Shimron Hetmyer (42 off 23) and Shubham Dubey (34 off 11) couldn’t get RR over the line, as they lost by 44 runs. SRH bowlers Simarjeet Singh and Harshal Patel ended with two wickets each.
Both RR and KKR have started their campaigns with defeats, but the former have a stronger batting lineup, while KKR have a stronger bowling lineup. This should be a close encounter, and the team batting first will hold the edge granted they put up a decent total.
Fantasy XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Jofra Archer, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana
Venue: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati
Winners Prediction: Rajasthan Royals
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