Venue: M.A. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | Time: 1830 hr (GST)
BIG PICTURE
Despite Virat Kohli’s herculean efforts and AB de Villiers’ belligerence, Bangalore are placed rather poorly on the points table. It isn’t exactly a secret that Bangalore possess what is easily the weakest bowling attack in the league this season. Though Tabraiz Shamshi has had respectable figures, rest of the bowling attack continues to undo Kohli and de Villiers’ continued excellence with the bat. As the season approaches the halfway mark, the Royal Challengers find themselves to be in trouble with the points table. With eight matches to go – Bangalore need to win six for an assured qualification – they will want to arrest the slide before the task becomes too difficult.
The Knight Riders, on the other hand, have shown that they are spoiled for choice. They decided to make some logic-defying changes in their previous match against Delhi Daredevils. Despite their two successive losses, their chances of qualification look rather bright. At halfway stage, Kolkata have won four matches, and duplicating their performance in the second half would ensure them qualification.
While it’s difficult to match the kind of form Virat Kohli and de Villiers have shown this year, KKR’s top order has been rather excellent as well. Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir have consistently given the team strong starts. They’ve shown the willingness to steer the team through chases and set substantial platforms while setting totals. A slight worry for Kolkata has been the middle order. Manish Pandey’s absence seems to be hurting the team’s balance a little, especially in light of relatively pedestrian batting form shown by Pathan, Shakib and Russell.
KEY BATTLES
Kohli and de Villiers vs Kolkata bowling: Kolkata could claim to have one of the strongest bowling lineups in this season’s IPL. It’s been a key factor in their prolific revival since 2011. A very little has to be said about Bangalore’s batting, which has Kohli, de Villiers, and Watson – though Watson hasn’t quite gotten going with his batting yet. Kolkata will aim to get Kohli and de Villiers out early to significantly improve their chances of winning.
Shamsi vs Kolkata middle order: This is another fascinating and potentially match-defining battle. Shamsi has confused a lot of batsmen with his variations and clever use of angles against right-handed batters. He’ll be looking attack the core of Kolkata’s middle order – Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan.
Shane Watson vs Kolkata openers: Though Waston hasn’t been quite up to the task with his batting so far, his bowling has been a massive addition to Bangalore’s relatively bare cup. Watson has gotten appreciable movement and used tight lines. Not only will he aim to keep things tight in the first six, but also hope to get the opposition openers out and expose the middle order earlier than KKR would like to.
WATCH OUT FOR
Andre Russell: He’s truly been the MVP in global T20 cricket over last one year. He’s not come into his element in this IPL, however, and Kolkata will hope that he starts peaking now. Bangalore’s slogging-friendly bowling might just provide the spark that Russell needs to reignite his season.
EXPECTED XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders will want to make a few changes after their last outing against Delhi. Given the quality of batsmen they’ll face, they’re likely to opt for pace of Morne Morkel. One interesting selection dilemma will be whether to play Shakib, who has been off-color with bat, or a specialist batsman in Lynn or Munro. If Manish Pandey is available, he’ll certainly be in for Sathish.
Robin Uthappa (wk), Gautam Gambhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib al-Hasan / Chris Lynn / Colin Munro, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Rajagopal Sathish / Manish Pandey, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav,
Bangalore have a dilemma of their own and a difficult one at that: Chris Gayle or a bowler? Chris Gayle, will be an automatic selection for most T20 sides in the world, a combination of his poor form and lack of bowlers in his team can potentially keep him out. Reportedly, Chris Jordan has joined the squad. He’s likely to play for Kane Richardson, who’s hasn’t impressed so far.
Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Chris Jordan, Sachin Baby, Parvez Rasool / Iqbal Abdullah, Yuzvender Chahal, Tabraiz Shamsi, Varun Aaron
STRAIGHT FROM TWITTER
Arrived with @KKRiders at B'lore, my hometown! Always something warm about this city & I don't mean the temp! Big game tomorrow. #AmiKKR
— Venky Mysore (@VenkyMysore) May 1, 2016
