Event of the Day: Kolkata Knight Riders versus Rajasthan Royals
Our event of the day is the Indian Premier League 2018 Playoffs Eliminator matchup between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The loser of this matchup will be knocked out of the tournament and their dreams of winning the title will be crushed. These two opponents have played two previous games this season with the outcome clearly going in the Kolkata Knight Riders favour. The Knight Riders are also clear favourites in this matchup being helped by the absence of the Rajasthan Royals’ star English players Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who have returned to London for the Test match against Pakistan at Lord’s.
The winner of this match will go on to play the loser from Qualifier 1, the Sunrisers Hyderabad, in what is basically a semi-final matchup. Key players to watch for include Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik for the Knight Riders and Ajinkya Rahane and Jofra Archer for the Royals. Rajasthan will have to work hard to pull off the upset but anything is possible in the IPL.
Honourable mentions around the globe go to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. This game will be a huge momentum swinging affair after the Cavaliers battled back from falling behind two games early with two dominating performances during their return home to Cleveland. Every home team has won through four games of the series, but the Cavaliers need to reverse this trend as the Boston Celtics hold home court advantage in two of the final three games. Around the rest of the world there is other top level sport including a NHL Playoffs Eastern Conference game 7 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals at Amalie Arena - the winner goes on to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the Giro d’Italia, Stage 17 runs from Riva Del Garda to Iseo. Four men’s and woman’s tennis tournaments continue in the final week before the French Open - the ATP Banque Eric Sturza Geneva Open, WTA Internationaux de Strasbourg, ATP Open Parc Auvergne- Rhone- Alpes Lyon, and WTA Nurnberger Versicherungscup.
Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!
Fixture
Photos by BCCI