IPL 9 Match 32 Preview: KKR look to press their dominance over KXIP

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are fresh from a stunning win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their home ground. Coming back to the familiar home conditions, the KKR side would like to take advantage of the fragile Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and look to grab the top spot in the points table with Gujarat Lions. For the Punjab franchise, it’s been a tough season so far. But, they seem to be slowly getting back into rhythm. After 5 losses in 7 games, advancing to the last four stage seems to be a fantasy for them. But, they can surely improve their record by putting up a good show in the remainder of games.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

KKR have their own flaws to iron out before they enter the field for the fourth time at home. The opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, after their initial good run together, look to be struggling in the past couple of games. However, the likes of Surya Kumar Yadav and Yusuf Pathan have begun to make their valuable contributions with the bat in the middle order which has helped the team maintain the winning run. The bowling department has plenty of option for Gambhir but he would most likely go with bowling attack comprising of Morne Morkel, Andre Rusell, Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine. Narine’s form, however, will be a concern for the homes side. He has lost the venom with his remodeled action it seems.

Kings XI Punjab:

Kings XI Punjab will be very inspired after their morale-boosting win over table topper Gujarat Lions. The team looked completely different under the fresh leadership of Murali Vijay. Marcus Stoinis, who was brought in place of Manan Vohra, showed some glimpses of his attacking style with a short cameo at the top. Manan Vohra will come back to the top order after injury ruled out Shaun Marsh of the tournament. David Miller, who was relieved from the extra burden of captaincy, finally seems to be back in form with his fine cameos in the past two games.

The middle order has been blowing hot and cold and appears to be the major weakness for the team. Both Glenn Maxwell and Gurkeerat Maan, who swapped placed with Nikhil Naik, were complete failures. Vijay showed his penchant for vast changes after he made a stunning four changes in the previous game. similarly, it would be reasonable to predict that he might opt for all -rounder Farhan Behardien in place of Maan. The bowling department has a big task of containing the explosive KKR batting order. But, they need not to worry to some extent. Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma have very effective. Spinner Axar Patel was on fire and will aspire to put up similar performances for his team.

Probable XI:

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Robin Uthappa (WK), Gautam Gambhir (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine

Kings XI Punjab:

M Vijay (C), Manan Vohra, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Farhaan Behardien/Gurkeerat Singh, Axar Patel, KC Cariappa, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma

Stats

• Kings XI Punjab have only one representative in the top 20 run-getters this season. Vijay is placed 14th, with 198 runs in seven innings. His strike rate of 118.56 is the second-lowest in the list.
• Of bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs this season, Umesh Yadav has the third best strike rate (12.6). Mohit Sharma (13.7) is placed fourth.