IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Match Preview and Prediction

Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals lock horns in Match 28 of IPL 2026, scheduled for Sunday at Eden Gardens.

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview

The Kolkata Knight Riders are still searching for their first win, as they have now lost each of their concluded five matches in a row, with their only point in the standings coming from a washout game against the Punjab Kings. The three-time champions will arrive in this game sitting at the bottom of the standings with one point. The 2024 champions suffered big defeats against the Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Chennai Super Kings and lost in tightly fought contests against Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans in the last game.

Punjab Kings XI:

Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (WK), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Matheesha Pathirana.

Impact Player: Varun Chakravarthy

Rajasthan Royals Preview

The Rajasthan Royals come into this game on the back of a solid run of form, having won four of their opening five matches in a row. The Royals suffered their first setback of the season in their last game, losing to the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 57 runs with the loss bringing an end to a four-match winning streak. They will now be desperate to bounce back to their winning ways, as they are sitting in the third spot of the points table with 8 points. Despite the defeat, Donovan Ferreira (69) and Ravindra Jadeja (45) made a good partnership.

Lucknow Super Giants XI:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag (C), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi.

Impact Player: Sandeep Sharma.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Prediction

I’m backing Rajasthan Royals to recover from their recent loss and return to winning form against the Kolkata Knight Riders side that’s still searching for its first victory after five matches. My pick is RR to win with 1xBet offering 1.62 odds.