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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Betting Preview, Odds & Predictions

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 18 Apr 2026

Simon Lewis 18 Apr 2026

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Kolkata Knight Riders continue to rack up the losses despite some close finishes.
Rajasthan Royals have been in incredible form until a sensational collapse against the Sunrisers.
Explore betting opportunities in handicaps, batters to Score Over/Under Runs, bowlers to Take Over/Under Wickets markets and Match Sixes.

Expired

Angkrish Raghuvanshi hits out against the Sunrisers (Getty Images).

This Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals prediction preview looks ahead to the IPL group match played in India. The Knight Riders are having a horror run of form and will be heartened but frustrated by some last-over narrow defeats.

Match Details
Recent Form
Head-to-Head Record
Team News
Key Stats
Match Analysis
Betting Markets to Watch
Latest Odds

After a dreadful 2025 when the Royals lost 10 of their 14 matches and the Knight Riders finished just one place above them, the 2026 season has seen the Royals firing on all cylinders and looking like favourites to hit the final, while the Knight Riders are playing even worse than last season.

Match Details

Match	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
Competition	Indian Premier League
Date	19 April 2026
Time	12:00 SAST
Venue	Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India

Recent Form

Team	Last 5 Matches
Kolkata Knight Riders	L–LLL
Rajasthan Royals	WWWWL

Despite the Knight Riders’ lack of form, the way the Royals collapsed against the Sunrisers in their last match should give the hosts hope as they push for their first win of the season.

Head-to-Head Record

Date	Winner	Margin of victory	Competition
4 May 2025	Kolkata Knight Riders	1 run	IPL
26 Mar 2025	Kolkata Knight Riders	8 wickets	IPL
19 May 2024	Match abandoned	No result	IPL
16 April 2024	Rajasthan Royals	2 wickets	IPL
11 May 2023	Rajasthan Royals	9 wickets	IPL

The Royals pulled off a thrilling 2-wicket win against the Knight Riders in 2024 at Eden Gardens when they chased down 223/6 to pull off the highest run chase in IPL history. Last season the Knight Riders did the double over the Royals, with their last match being a 1-run thriller. The Knight Riders lead the win count 16-14.

Team News

Kolkata Knight Riders: After dropping the struggling Finn Allen, Kiwi team-mate Tim Seifert looked good for his 19 off 14 balls and is likely to be given a run in the side.

Possible XI: Tim Seifert, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.

Rajasthan Royals: Despite a top-order implosion that sparked their first defeat of the season, the Royals are likely to keep their same XI as they look for a 5th win in 6 matches. Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored a 2-ball duck in his first appearance this season, but compatriot Donovan Ferreira showed his class with a 44-ball 69 that saved the Royals from total embarrassment.

Team manager Romi Bhinder is facing sanction for using his mobile phone in the dugout against RCB but the incident is unlikely to derail the Royals.

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

Key Stats

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Angkrish Raghuvanshi hit 52, 7*, 45 *& 27 in 5 IPL knocks.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Cameron Green hit 4 sixes in his 55-ball 79 against the Titans.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ has taken 1/48, 1/31 & 2/35 in his 4 IPL bowling spells.
Rajasthan Royals Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 38*, 55 & 77* in his last 5 knocks.
Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 52, 31, 39 & 78 in his 5 IPL innings.
Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer has taken 2/19, 2/33 & 2/37 in 5 IPL matches.

Match Analysis

The Eden Gardens track is popular with spin bowlers, who enjoy more success here than at other venues in the IPL. Sides batting first will be pegging their hopes on reaching 200 or stretching it to 210, which is a tough score to chase on this pitch, although the evening dew and flattening track does play into the hands of the side batting second.

Weather could play a factor, as the city is going through a heat wave that is expected to bring some light rain. Conditions have also been windy which have impacted on both teams’ practice sessions.

Aside from taking some spin, the pitch is batting-friendly with even bounce without offering too much pace, although there should be some life through the powerplay.

Betting Markets to Watch

Player Performance

Angkrish Raghuvanshi has scored over 25 in 3 of his 4 completed innings this season and is his side’s leading run-scorer with 190 runs at an average of 38.00.

Score Over/Under Runs

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the leading run-scorer with 200 runs at an average of 40.00. I’m backing him to score over 28.5 runs.

Take Over/Under Wickets

Ravi Bishnoi took 4/41, 2/25 & 2/32 in his first 4 matches this season and is worth looking at in this category. I’m backing Jofra Archer to take 2 or more wickets in the match after taking 2 wickets in 3 matches this season, including 2 wickets in each of his last 2 matches.

Best Knight Riders Bowler

Kartik Tyagi is the Knight Riders’ leading wicket-taker with 5 victims at a strike-rate of S/R 22.8.

Latest Odds

Market	Odds
Kolkata Knight Riders Win	2.32
Rajasthan Royals Win	1.53
Match to go to a Super Over	26.00

Odds with Easybets.co.za

Verdict

Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals

Angkrish Raghuvanshi is backed to top score for the Knight Riders, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is backed to score over 28.5 runs.

Jofra Archer is backed to take 2 or more wickets, with Kartik Tyagi backed to be the Knight Riders’ best bowler.

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

You can follow more from Simon at Muckrack, X and LinkedIn.