IPL 2021: Match 15, KKR vs CSK Match Prediction – Who will win today’s match?

Preview

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have looked a tad lacklustre after their win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their opening match of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). In their previous game, Eoin Morgan and Co lost to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 38 runs.

In their next match on Wednesday, April 21, the Knight Riders are set to face the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It’s their maiden game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai this season. On a head-to-head count, the Yellow Army are leading the Knights by 15-9.

As far as CSK are concerned, they had a horrendous outing against Delhi Capitals (DC), but with back-to-back wins, they are placed second in the points table. In their previous encounter, CSK got past the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by a decent margin of 45 runs.

Match Details

Match – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings – 15th match

Venue – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Time – 7:30 PM IST, 02:00 PM GMT

Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium has been a decent one for batting. Though the runs have tried up a wee bit in the last few innings, bowlers still have to work hard to restrict the batters.

Batting second should again be the way forward for both teams. The temperature will be around the 29 degrees Celsius mark with the humidity in the high-70s. Dew is likely to play a massive part.

Avg first innings score: 170 (5 matches in IPL 2021 at the Wankhede)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 3, Lost – 2, Tied – 0

Probable Playing XIs:

Kolkata Knight Riders

Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi

Bench: Karun Nair, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Vaibhav Arora, Sandeep Warrier, Harbhajan Singh, Shakib Al Hasan

Chennai Super Kings

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf Du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C and WK), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

Bench: Robin Uthappa, Imran Tahir, KM Asif, Bhagath Verma, C Hari Nishanth, Narayan Jagadeesan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma

Head-to-Head

Overall

Played – 25 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 9 | Chennai Super Kings– 15 |N/R – 1

At neutral venues

Played – 7 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 3 | Chennai Super Kings– 3 |N/R – 1

Probable best batsman of the match

Suresh Raina– Chennai Super Kings

Suresh Raina has impressive numbers against the Knight Riders. In 24 games against them, the southpaw has notched 818 runs at an average and strike rate of 45.44 and 136.33 respectively.

Moreover, the southpaw has only scored eight half-centuries with a top score of 84. In the ongoing IPL, the left-hander has 80 runs under his belt at an average of 26.66 with the highest score of 54.

Probable best bowler of the match

Varun Chakravarthy– Kolkata Knight Riders

Varun Chakravarthy was excellent in the game against the Challengers as he got rid of Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar in his opening spell. The tweaker has decent numbers against the Super Kings.

Last year, he played two games versus MS Dhoni and Co and picked up three wickets. Moreover, he kept the batters in check as he conceded 48 runs in his eight overs at a frugal economy rate of six.

Today’s match prediction: Kolkata to win the match.

Scenario 1

Kolkata win the toss and bowl

Powerplay score – 45-50

First innings score – 160-180

Kolkata win the match

Scenario 2

Chennai win the toss and bowl

Powerplay score – 45-50

First innings score – 170-190

Kolkata to win the match

Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.