Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, who snatched victories their first IPL match 2019 will be seen facing off in the 6th fixture of Indian Premier League at Eden Garden, Kolkata.
Talking about the last fixture, Andre Russell helped KKR to win their first match by hitting 49 runs off 19 balls, whereas King Xi Punjab managed themselves to get out of the awkward position and registered their first win against Rajasthan Royals.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Kolkata Knight Riders after thrashing Sunrisers have made it clear that they are one tough competitor in this tournament. KKR having to opt ball, SRH came on to bat first and with the return of David Warner hitting 85 runs helped Hyderabad to register a total of 181 runs in 20 overs. Chasing this total doesn’t look easy, but Nitish Rana opened up decent innings for KKR and added 68 runs off 47 balls. Still required ten runs per over, it was only Andre Russell who left his impact and showed everyone who is the boss. He smashed 49 runs off just 19 balls. Not just with the bat, but he even took two wickets in his three overs spell.
KKR would be happy with their players’ performance such as Nitish Rana and Shubham Gill, who delivered two maximum in the last over to win the match for KKR. Kolkata Knight Riders have a solid batting line up with Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Lockie Ferguson followed by Uthappa, Kartik, Nitish Rana.
Not to forget, when it comes to bowling then KKR again stand superior with their three world-class spinner – Narine, Piyush Chawla, and Kuldeep Yadav. So, it’s not going to be easy for King’s batting line up.
King XI Punjab:
People who didn’t have any clue about this season’s IPL, are now aware after R Ashwin grabbed their attention by mankading Jos Buttler in their latest fixture against RR. This helped King Xi Punjab win the match when Bulter seemed brutal on the pitch. Now, whole social media is after R Ashwin and is criticising his for such appeal.
Keeping this controversy aside, Chris Gayle played an exceptional inning of 79 runs off 47 balls for KXIP. Alongside, Mayank Agarwal and Sarfaraz Khan looked good with the bat and made maximum out of their opportunity. There are lots of expectations from KL Rahul this season, as you cannot always rely on Chris Gayle. If KL Rahul manages to last 2-3 overs, then he could be dangerous for the opponent.
Now when it comes to bowling, R Ashwin and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are known for picking up wickets consistently, but against KKR they will have to be more careful. Even Mohammad Shami played well in his first match, but Sam Curran needs to work on his line and length.
Match Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders are without any doubt a strong side and they would be having home advantage too. With the help of Lynn, Narine, and Andre Russell, this team is capable of giving a huge total and bowlers can keep the opponents down.
When and Where:
KXIP vs KKR, Indian Premier League
Eden Garden, Kolkata
27th March 2019
Pitch report: Eden Garden always gives a memorable experience to the crowd. Talking about the pitch, the weather forecast seems to be good. Rain interruption is not expected. This pitch mostly favours batsmen. Pace Bowlers can be benefited with the new ball, but contest usually ends up with a high score.
Average first innings score: 157
Average second innings score: 143
Highest total recorded: 210/6 (20 Ov) by MI vs KKR
Lowest total recorded: 49/10 (9.4 Ov) by RCB vs KKR
Highest score chased: 204/2 (18.2 Ov) by KXIP vs KKR
Lowest score defended: 114/4 (20 Ov) by CSK vs KKR
Last five matches:
KXIP: W, L, L, L, l
KKR: W, L, W, W, W
Head to Head (Last 5 matches)
KXIP: 02 wins
KKR: 03 wins
Team news: No changes are expected from both the teams
Squad:
Kings XI Punjab: Ravi Ashwin (C), Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Sarfraz Khan, Moises Henriques, Harpreet Brar, Sam Curran, Varun Chakravarthi, PrabhSimran Singh, Nicolas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Andrew Tye, Hardus Viljoen, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik(C), Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Carlos Brathwaite, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Prithvi Raj, Piyush Chawla, Sandeep Warrier, Shrikant Mundhe, Harry Gurney, KC Cariappa, Joe Denly, Lockie Ferguson, Rinku Singh, Nikhil Naik.
Probably Playing 11:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna.
Kings XI Punjab: Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran/Miller (wk), Ravi Ashwin(C), Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami
KXIP vs KKR Dream11 Grand League Teams:
Team 1: Gayle of KXIP was like a thunderstorm in the last fixture and is again expected to hit the ball out of the boundaries. He smashed 79 runs off 47 balls and helped KXIP to reach a decent total. C Lynn of KKR can make a huge impact with his bat and he must be your pick.
LK Rahul (wk)
C Gayle (c)
C Lynn (vc)
S Gill
S Khan
S Narine
A Russell
R Ashwin
K Yadav
L Ferguson
M Shami
Team 2: Sunil Narine can turn out as a game changer for KKR, he is skilled with both bat as well as the ball. So, he is worth betting on. You can go for K Yadav, this pitch doesn’t disappoint spinners.
D Kartik
C Gayle
R Uthappa
C Lynn
N Rana
R Ashwin
S Curran
S Narine (c)
M Shami
K Yadav (vc)
P Krishna
Team 3: There is no doubt on what Andre Russell did in his last fixture against SRH. His tremendous knock of 49 runs of 19 balls says it all. He can easily find boundaries at Eden Garden as the pitch supports batsmen. S Khan added crucial 46 runs off his bat and helped his team to reach the total 184 in 20 overs after C Gayle was caught on the boundary.
KL Rahul
C Gayle
S Khan (vc)
C Lynn
N Rana
R Ashwin
S Narine
A Russell (c)
Mujeeb ur Rahman
P Chawla
L Ferguson
Key players:
Kings XI Punjab:
KL Rahul
Chris Gayle
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
S Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Andre Russell
Chris Lynn
Nitish Rana
Kuldeep Yadav