Having started the ongoing season with three wins in their four outings so far, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be looking to make full use of their home conditions when they take on Lucknow Super Giants in an Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Sunday’s match will be the first of the five consecutive home games for the Shreyas Iyer-led side, giving them a great advantage of consolidating to their stay at the first two spots in the points table and clinch the play-off spot for the first time since 2021.
In the points tally, KKR are positioned at the second spot while the KL Rahul-led LSG are at the fourth position, after three wins from their five outings. Both sides lost their respective last-round matches, thus making Sunday’s afternoon encounter an exciting one.
After being restricted to a below-par 137 for 9 by defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their previous match, KKR will be looking to make amends in their batting against LSG, as their over-reliance on the Caribbean duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have been exposed in the seven-wicket loss in Chennai.
In IPL 2024, KKR had posted two 200-plus scores in three matches, but those scores have come on the back of Narine and Russell’s fireworks, as the rest of the batting has resolved around the duo.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer’s strike rate was under scrutiny in the last game as he could manage a lazy 32-ball 34, while the side also missed an anchor in the absence of Nitish Rana (finger injury), who is slated to sit out of another match. Phil Salt has been in decent nick at the top, and the KKR management will be hoping for another explosive start from him and Narine.
Venkatesh Iyer has three single digit scores this season to go with one odd fifty against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the team, it seems, doesn’t have a clear role for him. Ramandeep Singh also had a lean run after an impressive 35 against SRH. Young Angkrish Raghuvanshi has impressed the most following his 54 against Delhi Capitals, and will hope to continue in the same vein.
In the bowling department, KKR’s record signing Mitchell Starc’s indifferent form with the ball has dampened the spirit of the side. The Australian has so far managed to pick a solitary wicket after leaking at an economy rate of 11.00. Left-arm orthodox spinner Anukul Roy has been impressive and he would like to forge a formidable partnership with Narine.
As far as the Lucknow Super Giants are concerned, they will once again be missing their rookie quick in Mayank Yadav, who is recovering from a side strain. Skipper KL Rahul has said that he may take “a couple of more games before coming back”.
While LSG has definitely missed Mayank’s thunderbolts, and his wicket-taking abilities, his replacement Arshad Khan has been far from impressive, conceding at 10.73 runs over as they failed to defend 167 at home against DC on Friday.
Mohsin Khan, who claimed 2/34 against Punjab Kings, could be a perfect replacement but it remains to be seen if he’s fully recovered from his hamstring injury that had sidelined the left-arm pacer. Yash Thakur has been impressive in his outings and the LSG management will hope that the pacer carries the momentum to the Eden Gardens. Their spin-bowling department, comprising Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya has been impressive, and the team will hope for another tidy outing against the KKR power-hitters.
LSG’s batting unit failed to deliver collectively against DC, and as such, the likes of Quinton De Kock and Rahul will look to get back their run-making spree, while they also boast of a powerful line-up down the order with the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran and Krunal Pandya.