IPL 2021: RR vs KKR, Match 18 Toss, Playing XI: Rajasthan Royals win toss and elect to field

Bengaluru, April 24: Playing their fifth match of the season at the Wankhede Stadium, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Kolkata Knight Riders in match no. 18 of the IPL.

IPL 2021: RR vs KKR, Live Updates: Rajasthan Royals win the toss and opt to bowl

The Royals have won just one match on this ground this season out of the four played so far. After winning the toss, RR skipper Samson said, “Bowling first has helped bowlers at this venue.”

Talking about the Royals dismal run this season, Samson said despite missing key players the team is coping well. “Have to appreciate the team. They are coping well even after losing key players like Stokes, Archer, Liam. We trust our players to win matches. You play in a tournament like IPL, you have ups and downs,” Samson said at the toss.

The Royals will have two changes for their match against KKR. While Jaydev Unadkat will be back in the team in place of Shreyas Gopal, Yashasvi Jaiswal will come into the playing XI in place of Manan Vohra.

Meanwhile KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said bowling would have been his option too. “We’d have liked to bowl first as well. Everyone is on the same boat here. This venue suits our game. We made a few mistakes the other night and we will look to rectify it,” said Morgan.

The KKR line-up will have one change for the game against RR. Shivam Mavi will come into the team in place of Kamlesh Nagarkoti.

Playing XIs:

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (cpt, wk), David Miller, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (cpt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna