After finding themselves at the top of the table, with three wins out of four games, things haven't quite gone to plan for the Kolkata Knight Riders having lost their last three games. Coming on the back off a four-day break, they would be raring to get back to winning ways at the DY Patil stadium, a venue they have won their only fixture at.
While those were night games, their rubber against Gujarat Titans is scheduled for afternoon and would therefore cancel any un-dew advantage. Both their wins, against Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings, came chasing after the bowling attack did well to keep the target in the 130s but it is no longer the case. Not only has the Knight Riders bowling attack seen them concede two 200+ totals but the conditions in Navi Mumbai usually offer assistance for the quicks and the spinners alike.
Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, have enjoyed a stellar debut season so far. Five wins from six games has them placed second on the points table. They have completed two come-from-behind thrilling victories against Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings while winning comfortably against Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals. The game on Saturday will be their third at a venue where they have also registered their only loss against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Key Players
Shreyas Iyer and Aaron Finch put on a 107-run stand for the first wicket against Rajasthan Royals in a chase of 217 and the onus will once again fall on them and Nitish Rana to shoulder the batting on a pitch that is bound to offer them value for their shots and ease out as the innings progresses.
Gujarat Titans have had strong finishing acts in the form of Hardik Pandya, who has led from the front, Rahul Tewatia and David Miller while Shubhman Gill has ensured they have no early hiccups scoring a bulk of the runs. On the bowling front, speedsters Mohammad Shami and Lockie Ferguson have bowled quick and picked 8 wickets each whereas Rashid Khan has snared 6 wickets at a miserly economy of 6.66.
Squads:
KKR: Pat Cummins, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, B Indrajith, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Sam Billings, Aaron Finch, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav, Aman Khan
GT: Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, R Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Gurkeerat SIngh, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudarshan
