Advertisement

IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals win toss, opt to bowl against KKR

KKR skipper Eoin Morgan and Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson (Image: IPL Twitter)
KKR skipper Eoin Morgan and Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson (Image: IPL Twitter)

Sharjah [UAE], October 7 (ANI): Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Speaking at the toss, Royals skipper Sanju Samson said, "It has been easy to bowl here. The way the wicket behaved here [the other day] was completely different to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Four changes today, Livingstone for Lewis, Unadkat for Gopal, Rawat for Miller, and Morris in for someone."

On the other hand, Eoin Morgan said, "Would have obviously liked to bowl first. We put in a strong performance on a slowish wicket in Dubai, and we need to just put a good score here. Just because of the confidence within the group, we needn't look too far ahead. If we win here, those two points will take care of everything. Try to free yourself up, and try and play to win for the team. Lockie Ferguson is fit and he comes back in for Tim Southee. When we have the kind of depth and Tim comes and performs, it helps, but Lockie with his pace will come good on this wicket."

With 12 points in 13 matches, KKR will look to seal their spot in the final four of the competition with a win over Rajasthan Royals. On the other hand, the Royals would be keen to forget their poor show against the Mumbai Indians at the same venue and start afresh.

KKR Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson(w/c), Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman. (ANI)