Kolkata Knight Riders welcome the Gujarat Titans to the Eden Gardens with their season on the line. At one point, both teams looked to be out of the running to even make it to the playoffs, but they both head to the contest on the back of a fantastic second half of the campaign.
Gujarat already has a foot in the playoffs, needing just a win to secure their place. Things looked bleak when they had won just three out of their first seven games, but has since been on a five-match winning run. Kolkata also, had just one point from their first six games, before giving their fans some hope with four wins in the last five games.
But their playoff chances are hanging by a thread following the flat performance against RCB in Raipur. While a loss to GT won’t rule them out mathematically, Kolkata will then have to depend on other results and win their final two games.
KKR are back at Eden Gardens after a month of travel and will be up against one of the best when it comes to away games. GT have won four out of their six away matches, all on the back of some sensational bowling.
Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada have been the kings of powerplay bowling this season, with Jason Holder, Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan carrying on the good work.
Kolkata will have their work cut-out and will also have to hope the rain gods will be kind to them as their see-saw season hangs in the balance.
GT will be aiming to stick to their tried and tested formula and won’t be ready to change anything. For KKR, the big worry is the fitness of Varun Chakravarthy.
The spinner missed the loss to RCB due to a small hairline fracture on his left foot. He did train on the eve of the game, but his availability for the match will only be known at toss time.
WILL RAHANE STEP UP?
A lot of chatter was on Ajinkya Rahane and how he fits into this KKR side. While the Kolkata captain put the stats out early about his strike-rate and how people had a vendetta against him, things haven’t been great for him so far.
Across 11 matches this season, Rahane has registered two ducks and two other single-digit scores, while managing to go past 20 only on four occasions. Kolkata Knight Riders have also struggled for quick starts, crossing the 50-run mark in the powerplay only six times — the joint-lowest among all teams. Rahane himself has scored at a strike rate of just 131.19 during the first six overs.
What this has done is to put pressure on the other openers for KKR this season, leading to them losing their wickets early in the pursuit of runs.
Finn Allen scored a hundred the only time he got out of the powerplay, but apart from that, the New Zealand opener has shown signs of firepower, only to fizzle out quickly.
So for KKR to take down the Siraj-Rabada combo upfront, they will need their captain to answer big time and with a statement score.
SUNDAR THE BATTER
It seems to be a well-known case that GT are heavily dependent on their top three. In fact, a bit too much. Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler and Sai Sudharsan have contributed a combined 1323 runs this season.
And GT doesn’t mind that. But to win games consistently, you need a middle-order general, who can control the tempo.
Enter Washington Sundar. He isn’t the first name you think of in the IPL when it comes to a player with the quality to nail down the important No.4 role, but he has done just that for Gujarat this season.
Sundar has enjoyed his most productive IPL season with the bat, scoring 296 runs across 12 innings. His strike rate of 152.57 has further highlighted his impact in the middle order. He has also been particularly effective at the death, piling up 121 runs in overs 17 to 20 — the fourth-highest tally in the league this season — at an impressive strike rate of 180.59.
If GT is to continue its march to a second title, then Sundar’s role is going to be amplified with a lot of match situations coming up where he will be thrust into the spotlight.
KKR vs GT: HEAD-TO-HEAD
KKR and GT have faced each other six times in the IPL with Gujarat holding a clear advantage of 4-1. One game was washed out. Earlier in the season, GT almost fumbled an easy chase but got over the line in the end in Ahmedabad.
KKR vs GT: KOLKATA PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS
The pitch on the eve of the game looked like a belter with a lot of runs on offer. While the last game at the Eden happened almost a month ago, we can expect the track to be one where teams will look to bowl first and then chase the target down.
Now comes the big one. The weather. There was strong winds and rain on the eve of the match. Things are looking bright at the moment, with the chances of rain expected to be small, according to accuweather.
However, expect cloudy conditions to prevail on Saturday.
KKR vs GT: PREDICTED PLAYING XIS
KKR predicted playing XI: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora. Impact sub: Saurabh Dubey/Varun Chakravarthy
GT predicted playing XI: Shubman Gill (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj. Impact sub: Prasidh Krishna/R Sai Kishore
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