The Rajasthan Royals will play the first game of the second Super Saturday in this year’s edition of the IPL against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Motera in Ahmedabad. The Royals have yet to open their account in the tournament whereas the Knight Riders have won two games out of two.

The Rajasthan side’s travails have been well chronicled. With Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarenhas out of the tournament, both, Michael Lumb (7/2 at Stan James) and Damien Martyn (5/1 at Sky Bet to top-score for their side) had got their first look-in in Rajasthan’s previous game against Bangalore, but failed. Not for Warne to chuck his players aside after just one outing, and one feels that both will play in this game as well. However, much like in each of the previous outings, the bulk of the scoring will have to be done by Yusuf Pathan (4/1 at Ladbrokes to be Rajasthan’s best), a pressure that has brought about a struggle for him.

It will necessitate one of the Indian batsmen from Abhishek Jhunjhunwala or Paras Dogra (both, 6/1 at Stan James to top-score for their side) to make the innings count and ensure that the pressure is off their main striker.

Kolkata had a blip in their fortunes when they lost their first game of the tournament to the Chennai Super Kings after their bowlers had allowed the opposition to pile on the runs in the final few overs. The batsmen, in turn, had fared miserably in the game while chasing down a big target under pressure. Whether this will mean that Sourav Ganguly (9/2 at Sky Bet to be the best batsman of the team) has to change things around for his side, or whether he continues to go in with the same line-up remains to be seen. Chris Gayle (3/1 at Ladbrokes to top-score for the Knight Riders) is the one batsman who is waiting in the wings, but to get him in, it will be necessary to give Brad Hodge (3/1 at Stan James) or Owais Shah (5/1 at Sky Bet, both, to be the best batsman for the side) the axe.

Similarly, Manoj Tiwary (5/1 at Ladbrokes to top-score for Kolkata) has had a couple of failures sandwiching a half century in the second game, while the middle order has depended on Angelo Mathews’ (8/1 at Sky Bet to top-score for Kolkata) blast in the slog overs.

It is difficult not to put the Knight Riders (1/2 at Stan James to win the game) as the favourites for the game given the strength of their batting alone. Especially given that the Royals (7/4 at Sky Bet to win their first game in the tournament) do not possess a very incisive bowling attack either.

Tips:
Favourites: Kolkata Knight Riders (1/2 at Stan James)
Top Kolkata batsman: Chris Gayle (3/1 at Ladbrokes)
Top Rajasthan batsman: Paras Dogra (6/1 at Stan James)