Just as Kolkata found an inroad into the game, they made two more damages, Jos Buttler was sent to the pavilion by Kuldeep Yadav and soon Narine dismissed Sanju Samson. Kuldeep's googly turned dangerous for Stuart Binny as he was stumped by Karthik. With this, Half the team was back into the pavilion. From 14 runs per over during the initial overs to less than 9 runs per over after half the innings, Rajasthan had not just lost a good momentum, but also main wickets.
Here are the squads for both the teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI for today's match: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav Rajasthan Royals playing XI for today's match: Jos Buttler(w), Ajinkya Rahane(c), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jaydev Unadkat, Ish Sodhi, Anureet Singh
Rajasthan Royals innings update: Over by over
Over 1: Jason Roy and Rahul Tripathi to open for Rajasthan Royals. Shivam Mavi to start it for Kolkata Knight Riders. Leading edge, very lucky for Rahul. Good ball, inside edge, did not go onto the stumps. Very good ball. Right onto the body of Rahul. Brilliant over by Shivam Mavi, just two runs from it. RR: 2-0.
Over 2: Prasidh Krishna comes to the attack. Single to Butler. Rahul hits that one over the cover boundary for six. He made room for himself. That is a cracking shot for four. On the back foot, punched through point. Leading edge and goes for four on the third man boundary. Amazing straight drive for four. 19 runs from the over. RR: 21-0
Over 3: Mavi continues, Butler gives himself some room, edges it over the slip for four. This time he scoops over the fine leg boundary for six. What an amazing shot. Butler goes square of the wicket and wacks it for four. Pulled on the leg side, goes for four again. Brilliant scoop once again, wonderful six. Huge over. Makes room, hit a four. 28 runs from the over. RR: 49-0
Over 4: Tripathi, DOT ball followed by a four in the cow corner region. Another DOT ball. A quick single taken off the 4th ball. WIDE. DOT ball. butler hit the last ball of the over for 4 to end the over. RR: 59-0
Over 5: Andre Russell comes to the attack, outside the off stump, Tripathi lets it go. Pushed down the leg for a double. Inside edge, Tripathi gets one. Good bouncer to Bulter, on his body, just one to him. Bouncer, Tripathi tries to put it away, gets his glove and Karthik takes a simple catch. He goes for 27. Ajinkya Rahane comes to the crease, just one. RR: 63-1
Over 6: Narine continues, just one. Two dot balls. Swing and a miss. Another dot ball. Swept for four. RR: 68-1
Over 7: Russell continues, two runs. Rahane makes some room and hits a cracking shot, but very well saved. Single for Rahane. Dot to finish the over. RR: 74-1
Over 8: Kuldeep Yadav comes to the attack. Rahane tries to reverse sweep and is clean bowled. There was no need to play such a shot. He goes for 11. Sanju Samson comes to the crease. Single to end the over. RR: 79-2
Over 9: Prasidh is back, just one for him. Good shot, no run. Single. Nicely placed for four by Samson. Dot ball, there was never a run there. Just six form it. RR: 85-2
Over 10: Yadav continues, no run. Butler reverse sweeps, and he is caught. Unnecessary shot. He goes for 39. Ben Stokes is the new man in. Samson hits a four.
RR: 94-3
Over 11: Narine comes back, Two run to Stokes, one run to Stokes. Sanju swings and misses. LBW appeal. Reviewed. Brilliant review. Decision overturned. Samson goes for 12. Huge wicket for KKR. Stuart Binny comes to the crease. RR: 96-4
Over 12: Kuldeep Yadav comes back, Binny is Stumped. He had no clue about the turn. He goes for one. Gowtham cones to the crease, single to him. Brilliant ball. Single to Gowtham. RR: 100-5
Rajasthan Royals innings analysis after 12 overs
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik won the toss and asked Rajasthan Royals to bat first. Rahul Tripathi and Jos Butler opened the innings while Shivam Mavi, who is returning after injury bowled the first and nearly got the wicket of Tripathi off the first ball but Nitish Rana dropped the catch standing at first slip. Mavi bowled an excellent over with pace & bounce and conceded only 2 runs. Another youngster Prasidh Krishna came to bowl the 2nd over and Tripathi welcomed him with a six over cover followed by a four in the backward point region. The run feast for Tripathi was continued as an outside edge went for a four followed by a classic straight drive for four. Prasidh gave away 19 runs in his 1st over. Mavi continued from the other end and it looked as if Butler is continuing from where he left another day against Mumbai Indians and hit a boundary off the first ball followed by a scoop shot for six. The swashbuckling Butler muscled the next two balls for four followed by another scoop for six and ended the over with a four in the backward region to collect 28 runs in Mavi's first over. After 3 overs RR were 49/0 After horrific bowling by the young pacers in first 3 over, Dinesh Karthik moved to Sunil Narine and he bowled well in patches as RR batsmen were able to score 10 runs. Andre Russell bowled the 5th over and conceded only 4 runs in first 4 balls before getting the wicket of Rahul Tripathi wicket of a bouncer. Ajinkya Rahane came to the crease after the wicket of Tripathi (27 runs off 15 balls) as Russell completed his successful over. Narine continued from the other end and bowled brilliantly to give only 1 run in first 5 balls but Rahane placed the last ball for a boundary to end the over. After 6 RR were 68/1 Andre Russell bowled the 7th over and conceded only 6 runs as Rahane and Butler looked to score in singles and doubles. Kuldeep Yadav came to bowl the 8th over and got the wicket of Rahane as the RR captain tried to be innovative but got bowled while trying to reverse sweep. Sanju Samson came in after Rahane (11 runs off 12 balls) wicket and Kuldeep Yadav completed his first over successfully conceding only 5 runs. Prasidh Krishna came to bowl the 9th over after getting hit for 19 runs in his first over. Despite being hit for a boundary Prasidh gave away only 6 runs in his 2nd over as he bowled with great line and length. Kuldeep came in to bowl the 10th over and got the big wicket of Jos Butler who gets caught at backward point region while trying to play a cheeky reverse sweep. Ben Stokes came to the crease after the wicket of Butler (39 runs off 22 balls) who failed to make history by hitting 6 consecutive 50s in IPL. Kuldeep conceded 7 runs in his 2nd over and gave the much-needed breakthrough to KKR. To choke the run flow Dinesh Karthik asked the mystery spinner Narine to bowl the 11th over and got the wicket of Sanju Samson, a big blow to Rajasthan. Dinesh took DRS two overturn on-field umpire decision of not out and it was overturned. Kuldeep Yadav came to bowl the 12th over and got Stuart Binny stumped. Gowtham replaced Binny in the middle as Kuldeep conceded 5 runs in his 2nd over. After getting a flying start Rajasthan Royals lost 3 wickets in last 3 over which changes the whole complexion of the game, a brilliant come back by Kolkata Knight Riders led by Kuldeep Yadav who took 3 off the 5 wickets fallen. Match preview The fate of two teams are hanging in balance and a loss in the today’s IPL match may virtually sound the death knell for one of the two teams. Rajasthan Royals were slow to get off the blocks and almost put themselves out of reckoning before some individual brilliance from England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler catapulted them back into reckoning. Against Mumbai Indians, Buttler racked up his fifth consecutive IPL fifty -- a feat previously managed only by Virender Sehwag -- while his team picked up their third back-to-back win. Even a week ago, Rajasthan, who won the inaugural IPL in 2008, were on the verge of elimination. But Buttler's unbeaten 94 ensured the Rajasthan Royals not only win but also improve their net run rate by reaching the target of 169 with two overs to spare. Matching Buttler's exploits with the bat, West Indian bowling all-rounder Jofra Archer has been in fine form for RR. In the last game, the 23-year-old removed Suryakumar for 38 and Rohit Sharma for a golden duck in successive deliveries, much like what Andre Russell did for Kolkata against Kings XI Punjab. Rajasthan Royals would, thus, bank heavily on Buttler and Archer to deliver the goods. Australian opener D'Arcy Short has disappointed Rajasthan, mustering just 116 runs in his seven innings this season, at an average of 16.42. Skipper Rahane made a good-looking 37 against Mumbai and joined hands with Buttler in an important 95-run stand for the second wicket, but his form has been a concern, managing single-digit scores in his last three innings before this. Coming to the hosts, Kolkata Knight riders bounced back in style after succumbing to a 102-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians. Down after back-to-back defeats, Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back with a bang, posting the fourth highest total of the IPL -- 245/6 -- to down Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs in their last match. There were many positives for KKR from that game. Karthik continued to lead from the front with a belligerent 23-ball 50 while Sunil Narine smashed a 36-ball 75. There were important contributions from Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell as well, and end-overs cameos from Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill. Russell was excellent with the ball too and so was Prasidh Krishna who grabbed two wickets. With his exploits with both bat and ball, Narine has emerged as the most valuable player for KKR and the Trinidadian will once again look to play a key role. Narine's battle with Butler will be one of the key contests of the game. Skipper Karthik has quietly done his job in the batting and averages a healthy 46.37 (371 runs) and he too will eye a good show with the bat tomorrow. Nothing much separates the teams in terms of head to head (7-7) count and it seems another mouth-watering contest might be on the cards. Here are a few things to know about the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals (KKR vs RR) match to be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the two teams' players who could prove handy, and who has said what before the clash: What Jacques Kallis said ahead of today’s IPL match (KKR vs RR): Kolkata Knight Riders may not have been consistent so far in this year's IPL but chief coach Jacques Kallis believes it's a matter of playing two good games which can seal a playoff berth for them. The Dinesh Karthik-led side lost two back-to-back matches to Mumbai Indians but revived their campaign by posting this season's highest total of 245/6 in an away match against Kings XI Punjab. The win means KKR's fate is hanging in balance with two more rounds left in the round-robin league. "Destiny is still in our hands. If we play two good games of cricket, we are through to the playoffs and that's what we are interested in. It's about taking one game at a time and play well tomorrow," Kallis told reporters on the eve of their match against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens. We have the confidence to beat KKR, says Rajasthan Royals pacer Kulkarni: Rajasthan Royals pacer Dhawal Kulkarni expressed confidence that his team can beat Kolkata Knight Riders riding on the momentum of registering three back-to-back victories in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018). Royals kept alive their play-off hopes by beating defending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets with two overs to spare on Sunday night. The Ajinkya Rahane-led side will face two-time champions KKR at the Edens Gardens in today’s IPL match. "All the games are crucial for us. Maybe, in the next game we've got a good chance to beat Kolkata Knight Riders. With the momentum that we've got, I'm sure we'll be able to do that," said Kulkarni. Ajinkya Rahane fined Rs 1.2 million for slow over-rate: Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane has been penalised Rs 1.2 million for maintaining a slow over-rate during his side's Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) clash against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. Rajasthan Royals thumped the defending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets, thanks to England batsman Jos Buttler (unbeaten at 94) for his fifth consecutive half-century in IPL 2018. It should be noted that it was Rahane's first breach of the IPL Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offenses this season. "As it was his team's first offense of the season under the IPL's Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offenses, Rahane was fined Rs 1.2 million," the IPL release said. Here is how KXIP and RCB compare head to head in IPL matches played so far: Overall: Matches – 16, Kolkata Knight Riders won – 7, Rajasthan Royals won – 9 At the Eden Gardens: Matches – 5, Kolkata Knight Riders won – 4, Rajasthan Royals won – 1