It is a battle of two titans in the top four as Kolkata Knight Riders take on Lucknow Supergiants in a double header at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. With both teams having lost their previous clashes, they will look to strengthen their position in the points table and stamp their authority on each other. KKR stumbled in their last encounter in a low-scoring match against five-time former champions Chennai Super Kings. On the other hand, LSG were stunned by Delhi Capitals on Friday.
The KL Rahul-The leading side will want consistency from their batting order after a miserable performance against the Capitals. He also supports his young finisher Ayush Badoni who has helped him L.S.G Breathe easy after their foreign teams Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran And Marcus Stoinis failed to deliver. left hand Devadat Padikkal Their star bowler Mayank Yadav will also be out of color this season.
Like that KKRHe will count on his traditional opening stand, having had a similar last match against CSK Sunil Narine Along with him is Phil Salt. While his bowling unit has been decent so far, he will be looking to replicate his previous 200+ scores he posted against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Capitals. Meanwhile, Rinku Singh will be the star attraction as he enjoys batting against LSG and has a good record against them.
KKR won their previous showdown against SRH at their home ground in their first match and were supported by a huge crowd. It will be interesting to see how LSG will fare against the hosts.
LSG likely XI vs KKR if batting first
Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c/wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur.
LSG likely XI vs KKR if bowling first
Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c/wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur.
Impact Players: Mohsin Khan, Deepak Hooda, Manimaran Siddharth, Amit Mishra, Matt Henry
KKR likely XI vs LSG if batting first
Phil Salt (W), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Vaibhav Arora, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakraborty
KKR likely XI vs LSG if bowling first
Phil Salt (W), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakraborty.
Impact Players: Sangeesh Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Ramandeep Singh, Suyash Sharma
Head-to-head record
The Supergiants have dominated the two-time former champions in their last three appearances. They last met at the same venue where Lucknow stole a narrow one-run win last year. KKR will be looking to break the losing streak as they face their fifth match against the Giants.
Fantasy team
Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, KL Rahul (c/wk), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Nicholas Pooran, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mitchell Starc
Pitch report.
Eden Gardens is a batting friendly track and is likely to favor pacers in the early stages of the game. In the first few matches, the spinners didn't get much help from the surface while the pacers got hammered around the ground.
A winning prediction
Google Win Predictors favor Kolkata Knight Riders at 54%, while LSG are at 46%, showing that this could be a match for anyone.