Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the first game of the 2021 Indian Premier League playoffs
Royal Challengers Bangalore meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator in the 2021 Indian Premier League.
The game is scheduled for 6pm UAE (3pm BST, 7.30pm IST) on Monday, October 11, 2021.
The two sides will meet at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah.
Royal Challengers Bangalore finished third in the group stages, winning nine matches and losing five, and missed out on a top-two finish on net run rate. And after winning five of their opening six matches, Virat Kohli's side will be kicking themselves for their mid-season loss of form, which saw them lose three matches in a row. In their most recent outing, RCB defeated table-toppers Delhi Capitals by seven wickets off the final ball of the match.
Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, snuck into the playoffs on net run rate courtesy of a 86-run demolition of Rajasthan Royals in the final round. Eoin Morgan's side won seven and lost seven in the group stages and head into the Eliminator with three wins in their past four outings.
In the regular season, RCB won April's encounter, smashing over 200 runs past their opponents en route to a 38-run victory. However, when the two sides met in September, KKR bowled Kohli's men out for 92 before completing a simple nine-wicket victory.
Dafabet can't separate these two sides, offering odds of 10/11 for both an RCB victory and a KKR victory.
Virat Kohli is the favourite to top-score for Royal Challengers Bangalore, with odds of 12/5, while Venkatesh Iyer is at 13/5 to top-score for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Glenn Maxwell is the man of the moment in the IPL. The Australian, who is ranked second in the T20 Player Index, has scored four half-centuries in his past five outings for RCB while his lowest score over that period is 40. The 32-year-old has now scored 498 runs at a strike rate of 147.33 - over 100 more than his nearest teammate - and passed 50 on six occasions in 13 innings, a feat only KL Rahul can match. Maxwell's wicket will likely play a big role in procedings.
Srikar Bharat impressed with the bat against Delhi Capitals, scoring an unbeaten 78 off 52 balls and smashing the final ball for six to seal an unlikely victory for RCB. The 28-year-old, who only forced his way into the team when the tournament moved to the UAE, has now scored 182 runs at a strike rate of 130 in six innings.
For KKR, Shivam Mavi is proving himself to be a bowler for the big occasions. The 22-year-old, who, like Bharat, struggled for game time in the first half of the tournament, has taken six wickets in his past two matches for KKR, including best figures of 4 for 21 against Rajasthan Royals. Expect the youngster to cause a bit of chaos in the first half of the innings.
With the bat, Shubman Gill has scored back-to-back half-centuries to head into the Eliminator on a high. The 22-year-old scored 57 against Sunrisers Hyderabad before striking a further 56 against the Royals.
With both teams heading into the Eliminator with winning momentum, neither side is likely to make any changes to their XI. Lockie Ferguson would, therefore, remain in KKR's bowling attack in place of Tim Southee.
The two teams have played each other 28 times.
Royal Challengers Bangalore wins: 13
Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 15
It's forecast to be a scorcher in Sharjah, with temperatures peaking at 38 degrees Celsius during the day before cooling into the low 30s as evening sets in.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, a limited number of fans are allowed to attend games during the IPL's UAE leg.
If Glenn Maxwell stays in, RCB win. If KKR can get him out quickly, the match is theirs.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Royal Challengers Bangalore squad: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshal Patel, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pavan Deshpande, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian, Suyesh Prabhudessai, KS Bharat, Tim David, Dushmantha Chameera, Wanindu Hasaranga, George Garton
Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Tim Southee
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dan Christian, George Garton, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy
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