Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata | Date & Time: 14 May at 1830 GST
BIG PICTURE
One team has lost all hope to qualify further for the next round. The other team – Kolkata Knight Riders – has everything to play for. Whilst this is certainly not a knockout match for the Knight Riders, they will try hard to win this match to avoid the last minute scramble that makes the last ten days of the IPL chaotic and intense.
Given Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions need to win only one out of their three matches each to qualify, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata and the Delhi Daredevils enter into a three-way shootout for two spots. This is by far the easiest match for KKR in their upcoming four fixtures.
Pune are a disoriented outfit, but the sheer number of injuries to their squad have taken away any selection dilemmas they could have potentially had. Despite Adam Zampa’s phenomenal effort – the second best bowling figures in the history of the IPL – Pune still came short in their last match and consequentially lost any mathematical chance of making it to the play-offs.
Pune will certain want to keep their heads up and spoil some parties. Their four major players, all have something to prove: Dhoni will want to show some of his batting mojo of old; Adam Zampa will want to further make inroads into establishing himself as a quality bowler; Thisara Perera will want to come good with the bat; and Usman Khawaja will be raring to show why the cricketing world was perplexed after he was left unsold at the auction.
The Gambhir-led outfit have been one of the most impressive teams since their major overhaul in 2011. They’ve had a very stable core of Indian players, which has afforded them the required flexibility to pick the strongest possible foreigners optimized to the conditions and opposition. Narine has been the only overseas star constant in their line-up since 2012, but Narine 2.0 (with the remodeled action) hasn’t had the impact of the old. They’ll want him to bring the goods back as the league approaches the business end.
WATCH OUT FOR
Usman Khawaja needs to fire at the top.
Usman Khawaja: The Australian has looked quite solid in the last seven months, but he hasn’t been able to replicate the form he showed in late 2015. In the BBL, Khawaja scored runs at an average of around 170, including two centuries in just four matches. If RPSG hope to upset the Knight Riders, then Khawaja will have to come good.
KEY BATTLES
Ajinkya Rahane vs Morne Morkel: Rahane is one of the few adequate exponents of playing the short ball in the subcontinent. Morkel is amongst the very few fast bowlers who rely heavily on the short pitched delivery in this IPL. It will be a very gripping contest to watch RPSG’s best batsman trying to hit KKR’s best fast bowler out of the park.
Adam Zampa and Ravichandran Ashwin vs Yusuf Pathan: One of the key acquisitions the Knight Riders made in their breakthrough 2011 season was Pathan. The 33-year-old has never been the most “consistent” performer in a strict sense of the word but he is an impact player. It’s rare that Pathan performs and his side doesn’t win. He’s particularly severe against the spinners. RPSG’s bowling strategy primarily revolves around the spinners and who comes out on top may well determine the outcome of this match.
EXPECTED XIs
KKR will probably sit Brad Hogg out for Narine given the latter’s ability to excel in the powerplays. Otherwise, it’s hard to envisage that Gambhir will make many changes to a tried-and-tested squad.
Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav
Pune have a little reason or incentive to chop and change much in their squad. Potentially M Ashwin might replace Rajat Bhatia, who has been ineffective with both bat and ball.
Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, Saurabh Tiwary, George Bailey, MS Dhoni (wk), Thisara Parera, R Ashwin, Adam Zampa, M Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, RP Singh
STRAIGHT FROM TWITTER
Who said only movies can have motion posters? Here are the #BollywoodKnights in our motion poster! #AmiKKR@iamsrk pic.twitter.com/Tq77lR0WNT
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 13, 2016
