Two teams in fine form will face off at the Eden Gardens with the spotlight falling on the biggest hitters in T20 cricket.
Kolkata Knight Riders host high-flying Kings XI Punjab in a direct face-off between Jamaican powerhouses Andre Russell and Chris Gayle.
Both teams have three wins under their belt but Kolkata have played one game more. A win in Kolkata on Saturday will provide some wiggle room for either side as the race for playoff spots gathers speed.
TALKING POINTS
The Knight Riders did score 200 against the Delhi Daredevils in Kolkata the last time but the wicket is not as flat as that score suggests. Both seamers and spinners should expect some help.
Kolkata’s spin trio of Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav should continue to bowl in the powerplays while in the batting department, the form of captain Dinesh Karthik (151 runs from five games) and Nitish Rana (162 runs) must be heart-warming.
Punjab have some wily spinners of their own, with off/leg-spinner and captain Ravi Ashwin along with Afghan teenager Mujeeb Ur Rahman providing just the right support to pace ace Andrew Tye. If Punjab opener KL Rahul continues his attacking style, the game might be out of Kolkata’s grasp soon.
PLAYERS IN FOCUS
Knight Riders all-rounder Russell has been unforgiving this IPL, hitting 19 sixes from 64 deliveries faced. That is an insane statistic and if he gets to play a handful of overs, we should be in for a treat.
If Kolkata have Russell, Punjab have another Jamaican of fine vintage in Gayle. Fresh from a typically belligerent century – the first of the season – against the top class bowling attack of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gayle will need to recover from his exertions in time to challenge Kolkata.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Tom Curran
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Axar Patel, Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman
