IPL 10, Match 11, KKR v KXIP, Preview: Jolted Knight Riders up against spirited Kings

The IPL 2017 fever finally reaches the mecca of Indian cricket – Eden Gardens. Kolkata Knight Riders are all set to play their first home match of the season as they host the Kings XI Punjab at the iconic venue in Kolkata. Coming into the match, both teams have had contrasting times in the build up to their clash. The Knight Riders had started off their campaign with a thunderous 10 wicket win over the Gujarat Lions.

They were then against the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai. They had a good grip over the match but their death bowling cost them the game dearly. For the Kings, it has been an unusual start this season. Albeit in a good way. Unlike the last two seasons when they had ended as the bottom-placed side, the Kings look like a strong unit this time around. Skipper Glenn Maxwell has been leading from the front till now.

The Kings beat the Rising Pune Supergiant in their opening encounter this season. They then got the better of the strong Royal Challengers Bangalore in the match that they played next. However, having said that, one needs to take into consideration that they have won both games at their home venue in Indore. This will be their first away game this season. A cracker of a game is on the cards as the Knight Riders take on the Kings.

Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field

Quotes from the toss:

Maxwell: We’ll go about it the same way as we went last time, be nice and positive. Have to assess the conditions quicker than last game. It’s upto the individual in the middle to assess what’s a good total. As soon as they can do that, it’s good. Just one change, Ishant comes in for Natarajan. They’ve been pretty good against us the last few years. Hopefully we can come out on the right side today.

Gambhir: We’re going to bowl. Looks a good track, not going to change much and there was a bit of dew two days back. It’s tough on him (Lynn). He was an important player for us. You can’t do much with injuries. We’re hoping he can recover quickly. We’ve got de Grandhomme for him. Umesh comes in for Rajpoot, and Piyush comes in for Kuldeep. We thought we needed more experience on this wicket, and Umesh has been bowling well in the Tests.

Playing XI:

Kings XI Punjab: Manan Vohra, Hashim Amla, Axar Patel, Glenn Maxwell(c), Wriddhiman Saha(w), David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir(c), Robin Uthappa(w), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Trent Boult, Umesh Yadav

Focus will be on

Gautam Gambhir

KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir looked in ominous touch in the first match. He stitched a fine unbeaten 184 run stand along with Chris Lynn against the Gujarat Lions. En route the record run stand, he struck a brilliant unbeaten 76 off just 51 balls. He got a decent start in the match against Mumbai Indians as well. However, coming into the third game, he might well be under pressure with his opening partner Chris Lynn having dark clouds over his participation in the match. Also, Gambhir’s captaincy in the death overs was tested in the previous game and he had largely succumbed to it.

Glenn Maxwell

While some of the limelight will be on KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, his opposition number Glenn Maxwell is also bound to get some headlines. Maxwell has remained unbeaten in the season thus far and has seen his side home with the winning runs in both the matches. Maxwell has shown some exemplary hitting skills which has made him the player to watch out for. He has only played cameos thus far and it would not be surprising to see getting a big score sometime soon. He is due for a big score for almost two and a half seasons now.

Robin Uthappa

KKR wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa might well be asked to open the innings in case Chris Lynn fails to get match fit. Lynn’s injury will take some time to heal and hence Uthappa will be back to his opening role. He had performed exceptionally well as an opener for the Knights in the last edition of the IPL. However, his only outing with the bat this season was not as fruitful as he would have liked it to be.

Team Combination – Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders have been jolted by the injury of their star performer this season Chris Lynn. Lynn suffered a shoulder injury while fielding in the match against Mumbai Indians. Coach Jacques Kallis mentioned that he will take ‘substantial’ time to heal and that means an ouster from this game against the Kings. Robin Uthappa is likely to get back to his opening role and all batsmen will get a promotion by one in their batting line up. Shakib Al Hasan is likely to replace Lynn in the playing eleven.

Ace Indian pacer Umesh Yadav is also fit and is raring to go. In case he is deemed match fit on the match day, he will be drafted in at the expense of Ankit Rajpoot who was unimpressive in the previous match. Trent Boult was also taken away for aplenty in the previous game during the death overs but the management might just give him another go before moving on to someone like Nathan Coulter-Nile who is warming the bench.

Team Combination – Kings XI Punjab

The Kings XI Punjab are at a happy place at the moment. This is only the second time in the history of the IPL that they have managed to win their first two matches of the season. The last time they did so was in the year 2014 where they had finished as the finalists. They are likely to play the same team going into the match. The openers Manan Vohra and Hashim Amla have been giving them flying starts and that is what has been the key to their success till now.

The move to play Axar Patel at number three has not quite been working for them and but they will stick to the same plan in the coming fixture as well. The middle order has struck some fine form in the first two games with skipper Glenn Maxwell being in sublime touch. David Miller was quite impressive in the first match too. Marcus Stoinis is a fine all-rounder who will continue to take his spot in the lineup. Pace department looks settled with Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Varun Aaron, and T Natarajan coming up good thus far.

StatAttack

5.5 – Yusuf Pathan bowled with an economy of 5.5 last year – the best for any bowler for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2016.

7.46 – The run rate of Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2016 in the middle overs (7-15 overs) – the worst among all teams last season.

8.56 – The second worst economy rate among all teams in IPL 2016 was by Kings XI Punjab.

9 – Sandeep Sharma has not taken more than 9 wickets against any opposition in IPL history except RCB.

184 – Number of runs added by Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn against Gujarat Lions – the highest partnership for Kolkata Knight Riders.