Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will face each other in Match No.56 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Thursday, May 11 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The Knights, led by Nitish Rana, are slowly but surely starting to find their mojo after a poor start in the tournament. They are placed fifth in the table with 10 points and a net run rate of -0.079 thanks to wins in five out of 11 matches. They will go into the game after beating Shikhar Dhawan’s Punjab Kings (PBKS) by five wickets on Monday, May 8.
The Royals, led by Sanju Samson, on the other hand, are placed fourth in the table with 10 points and a net run rate of +0.388 courtesy of wins in five out of 11 matches. They are currently on a three-match losing streak and will be keen to get back to winning ways.
They lost to Aiden Markram’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by four wickets in their previous game. Both teams have a fair chance of advancing to the playoffs and things get tight at the business end of the championship.
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KKR vs RR head-to-head record
The two teams have a pretty long history having played against each other since the inaugural edition way back in 2008.
Here is a look at how the current KKR vs RR head-to-head record stands:
| Matches played | 27 |
| KKR won | 14 |
| RR won | 12 |
| tie | 1 |
KKR vs RR IPL match results
Going by the results, no team has dominated over an extended period of time. In their last six meetings, KKR beat the Royals four times.
Here is a more detailed look at how this rivalry has unfolded:
| Date | Winner | Won By | Venue |
| 02-May-2022 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 7 Wickets | Mumbai |
| 18-Apr-2022 | Rajasthan Royals | 7 Runs | Mumbai |
| 07-Oct-2021 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 86 Runs | Sharjah |
| 24-Apr-2021 | Rajasthan Royals | 6 Wickets | Mumbai |
| 01-Nov-2020 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 60 Runs | Dubai |
| 30-Apr-2019 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 37 Runs | Dubai |
| 25-Apr-2019 | Rajasthan Royals | 3 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 07-Apr-2019 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 Wickets | Jaipur |
| 23-May-2018 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 25 Runs | Kolkata |
| 15-May-2018 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 6 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 18-Apr-2018 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 7 Wickets | Jaipur |
| 16-May-2015 | Rajasthan Royals | 9 Runs | Mumbai (BS) |
| 05-May-2014 | Rajasthan Royals | 10 Runs | Ahmedabad |
| 29-Apr-2014 | Rajasthan Royals | Super Over | Abu Dhabi |
| 03-May-2013 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 08-Apr-2013 | Rajasthan Royals | 19 Runs | Jaipur |
| 13-Apr-2012 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 5 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 08-Apr-2012 | Rajasthan Royals | 22 Runs | Jaipur |
| 17-Apr-2011 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 15-Apr-2011 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 9 Wickets | Jaipur |
| 17-Apr-2010 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 20-Mar-2010 | Rajasthan Royals | 34 Runs | Ahmedabad |
| 20-May-2009 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 4 Wickets | Durban |
| 23-Apr-2009 | Rajasthan Royals | Super Over | Cape Town |
| 20-May-2008 | Rajasthan Royals | 6 Wickets | Kolkata |
| 01-May-2008 | Rajasthan Royals | 45 Runs | Jaipur |
KKR vs RR IPL stats
Most runs
Sanju Samson, the skipper of the Royals, is the leading run-scorer in matches between the two teams. He has scored 340 runs. Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson have also scored above 300 runs. Yusuf Pathan and Jos Buttler are also in the list.
| Player name | Runs |
| Sanju Samson | 340 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 338 |
| Shane Watson | 304 |
| Yusuf Pathan | 292 |
| Jos Buttler | 286 |
Most wickets
Fast bowler Shivam Mavi is the leading wicket-taker in matches between the two teams. The right-arm pacer has accounted for 13 scalps. Sunil Narine and Shakib Al Hasan have picked up 12 and 10 wickets respectively. Chris Morris and Siddharth Trivedi also feature in the list.
| Player name | Wickets |
| Shivam Mavi | 13 |
| Sunil Narine | 12 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 10 |
| Chris Morris | 9 |
| Siddharth Trivedi | 9 |
Best match in the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals head-to-head
Back in 2009, KKR and RR locked horns in a match at the Newlands in Cape Town. The game went right down to the Super Over where the Royals came up trumps. Yusuf Pathan became the Player of the Match for his stupendous performance.
Here is how the match unfolded:
After being put into bat first, the Royals scored 150 for the loss of six wickets. Yusuf Pathan scored 42 runs off 21 balls with six fours and two sixes. Ravindra Jadeja and Dimitri Mascarenhas got into double digits but failed to carry on. Ishant Sharma, Anureet Singh and Ajantha Mendis picked up two wickets apiece for KKR.
Thereafter, Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly scored 41 and 46 respectively to somehow make sure that the game went into the Super Over. Left-arm pacer Kamran Khan was exceptional for the Royals after he finished with figures of 4-0-18-3. Shane Warne got the crucial wickets of Gayle and Yashpal Singh.
Gayle and Brendon McCullum set the Royals a target of 16 runs. Thereafter, Yusuf Patha hit Mendis for two sixes and a four to RR past the finish line. 2009 was also the season when the Royals won the title under the leadership of Shane Warne.
