Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab are all set to battle in a sudden death encounter today at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra stadium in Mohali.
A win against the home side will keep our playoff hopes alive, while a loss will pile up the pressure for DK & co. in Vivo Indian Premier League 2019 with just one playoff spot left.
Head to Head
KXIP: 8 | KKR: 16 (Overall)
KXIP: 3 | KKR: 3 (In Mohali)
The win-loss ratio for KKR against KXIP is 2:1. KKR even got the better of Ashwin-led KXIP at Eden Gardens earlier this season. Both sides rely a lot on their batters to score heavily and it wouldn't be different for either side.
God save the bowlers
Last time we played KXIP at Eden Gardens, our batters piled up their then biggest total at the venue (218/4). Every bowler went for plenty of runs.
It was the third instance when KKR scored two or more sixes against all bowlers used by the opposite teams. Twice, it has come against KXIP.
Sunil Narine returning to his prime with the bowl
Despite having an average season with the bat, all-rounder Sunil Narine has been our strike bowler. He had a bad start with the ball in the first four matches but has come back stronger in the last 6 matches.
Narine in IPL 2019
First 4 matches
Overs 13 | Runs 107 | Wkts 1 | Bowling Avg. 107
Last 6 matches
Overs 23 | Runs 178 | Wkts 9 | Bowling Avg. 19.8
KKR News
The win against Mumbai Indians in our last home game came at the right time for KKR. DK and his Knights will look to keep the momentum going.
Sandeep Warrier went wicketless but was economical and kept the MI batsmen on the backfoot during his four over spell. Andre Russell isn’t doing anything wrong, be it with the bat or with the ball.
While the Jamaican has played the role of a one man show on few occasions, it was KKR’s complete team effort that helped us win our last game.
KXIP News:
The home side also had a great start of the season with three wins in first four matches. The tide changed in the remaining matches as now they are going through a three match losing streak.
KXIP will once again rely on KL Rahul and Chris Gayle for a good start. Ashwin tried Arshdeep Singh and Mujeeb Ur Rahman against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Both went for 108 runs in total. From the home team’s perspective, time is running out for them and Ashwin will look to go with experience in their playing eleven against KKR.
Teams:
KKR: Dinesh Karthik, Carlos Brathwaite, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Shrikant Mundhe, Harry Gurney, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Nikhil Naik, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Chris Lynn, Rinku Singh, KC Cariappa, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Robin Uthappa
KXIP: Ravichandran Ashwin, Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Murugan Ashwin, Agnivesh Ayachi, Sam Curran, Chris Gayle, Harpreet Brar, Moises Henriques, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, Darshan Nalkande, Nicholas Pooran, Lokesh Rahul, Ankit Rajpoot, Simran Singh, Andrew Tye, Varun Chakravarthy, Hardus Viljoen
Last five meetings
KXIP 2-3 KKR
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Date & Time: 3 May 2019, 8 PM
