IPL 2018, Match 33, KKR vs CSK, Match Prediction: Who will win the match today, Kolkata Knight Riders or Chennai Super Kings?

The Chennai Super Kings are sitting comfortably at the top of the table with 6 wins in 8 games and they will be breathing really easy as they visit the Eden Gardens tomorrow, but this can sometimes be a dangerous situation to be in as the sides, with so many points in their kitty, often tend to relax which might cause the complacency to creep in. However, with someone as wily as MS Dhoni in charge, CSK can be expected to be all charged up and not let the intensity go down.

The Kolkata Knight Riders after suffering back to back losses made a comeback the other evening at Chinnaswamy as they got the better of the Royal Challengers Bangalore rather comfortably, putting on a great show with both bat and ball. However, maintaining the consistency has been a real issue for them this tourney. They have not been able to stitch a few good results in a row and that’s something they will be looking to do from here on as the tournament gets into the second half.

Pitch and Conditions

It’s only a couple of years back that Eden Gardens used to be a dust bowl. But it has been a chalk and cheese difference since the surface has been relaid. The new surface is one of the truest in the country in terms of the carry and bounce it offers. The spinners don’t call the shots here anymore and it’s instead ideal for the fast bowlers now who can extract a lot out of it if they whack the hard lengths. For batters, it’s important to bring their backfoot game to the fore as the horizontal bat shots are vital at this venue.

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Playing Combination

Kolkata Knight Riders

Probable Changes – No Changes

The Kolkata Knight Riders have all their players settling nicely into their roles and they are unlikely to change their combination barring any injury issues. There were a lot of talks about Shubman Gill batting too low down the order, but the young man seems to have embraced the role of the finisher and has been very comfortable batting at no. 6 the previous couple of games. The management at this stage won’t be thinking about changing his batting position.

Sunil Narine has failed more than he has succeeded with the bat for KKR, but the way he plays, it’s almost impossible for him to be consistent. He walks in with a license and throws his bat at virtually everything in the powerplay. While he can take the game away from the opposition playing like that, he is also vulnerable to losing his wicket with such high-risk play. The fact that he is not as useful anywhere else in the order as he is at the top, KKR will keep him going as an opener.

Predicted XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (C & WK), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Mitchell Johnson, Shivam Mavi, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav

Chennai Super Kings

Probable Changes – Faf du Plessis out, David Willey in

Faf du Plessis is a world-class player in longer formats of the game, but when it comes to T20s, he is not equally effective. He played a run-a-ball knock opening the innings the other evening against Delhi on a pitch which was flat as a road and it didn’t help CSK’s cause.

The fact that CSK have good, quality stroke-players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu slotted at 3 and 4, they don’t need someone to drop anchor at the top. The openers need to go hard from both ends and David Willey is probably more suited to that job in comparison to du Plessis who likes to play proper, conventional cricket.

Willey’s inclusion also means CSK will have another option with the ball. The left-armer is usually a swinger of the ball and is at his best with the new nut, but he can be trusted for an over or two in the death as well.

Predicted XI: David Willey, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi

Team Comparison

While batting is all sorted for CSK, death bowling is their biggest headache. Dwayne Bravo was their main man in the death ahead of the tourney, but he has been taken apart on quite a few occasions. He is overusing his slower deliveries and is getting very, very predictable at that.

However one positive for CSK in the Delhi game was how Lungi Ngidi bowled. The Protea seamer delivered hard lengths at 140 clicks from 6 ft. 8 and chipped away economically bowling the 18th and the 20th over of the innings. He is someone MS Dhoni will be relying on going ahead along with Bravo who however needs to up his game and disguise his variations more smartly.

KKR’s case is somewhat similar. They might not be quite as strong as CSK with the bat, but they are a decent batting unit as well with a couple of real X-factor batters in there in the form of Chris Lynn and Andre Russell, but they just like CSK are also very uncertain with their death bowling resources. While Shivam Mavi has been hot and cold, Mitchell Johnson who is relatively more experienced has not managed to nail his lengths either.

Probable Top Performers

Chris Lynn (Kolkata Knight Riders), Lungi Ngidi (Chennai Super Kings)

Head to Head

Matches – 17, Kolkata Knight Riders – 6, Chennai Super Kings– 11

The timing of the match: 08:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports Hindi, Star Sports Select 1

Online – Jio TV, Hotstar

The prediction is for the Chennai Super Kings to beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in this match.