The internet is still buzzing about Ravichandran Ashwin ‘Mankading’ Jos Buttler, a move that proved to be the turning point as Kings XI Punjab defended 184 against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.
Kings XI will be looking to build on their successful start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 campaign and claim two more points as they get ready to make the trip to take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.
The Knight Riders rode on Andre Russell’s quickfire 49 19 balls to chase down Sunrisers Hyderabad’s total of 181. Meanwhile, through a commanding half-century in the first game, veteran Chris Gayle showed that he’s still the boss of this format.
KL Rahul endured a pale opening, but on his day, he could prove to be a befitting partner for the dangerous left-handed batsman. The pair could provide the visitors a strong opening against the Knight Riders.
Punjab are a top-heavy batting line-up and the pressure on openers is quite high.
The Big Jamaican played a big part in our first victory in Jaipur 👌
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) March 26, 2019
Listen in to what @henrygayle had to say about #RRvKXIP 👂🏼#SaddaPunjab #UniverseBoss #KXIP pic.twitter.com/MSOciv1HfY
After a poor 2018 season, 21-year-old Sarfaraz Khan kick-started his journey in the 2019 edition with a blitzing 46* of 29 balls against Rajasthan and helped finish off what Gayle started. The youngster now has a chance to step it up a notch and assert himself on the Knight Riders.
In the bowling department, all eyes will be on Ashwin, especially after his dismissal of Buttler. Whether this act was in accordance with the spirits of the game or not is a subjective matter but one thing is certain – Ashwin means business. As the captain of the team, the Chennai-born off-spinner has taken it upon himself to make a statement with his bowling.
Knight Riders need to put in a team effort to reduce the burden on Russell after the Windies all-rounder rescued them with the ball and the bat in the first game. With the ball, Russell accounted for the dangerous David Warner and then Yusuf Pathan.
With the bat, Russell’s swashbuckling took them to teh brink of an improbable win before Shubman Gill smashed two sixes in the last over to seal victory.
Wanna know what @Russell12A does when he's not on the field?
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 26, 2019
You gotta watch this 📹 from the hotel corridors to find out 🤣#KKRHaiTaiyaar #KKR pic.twitter.com/OtELdwBAfJ
The decision to have Nitish Rana open the innings with Chris Lynn worked out well for Kolkata, with the Delhiite making the most of the opportunity by hitting a fluent fifty. It will be interesting to see if Dinesh Karthik sticks to his decision of pushing Rana to the top of the order.
In the bowling attack, Kuldeep Yadav and Lockie Ferguson will be looking to provide the hosts an early breakthrough, which the Gayle-Yadav clash exected to be particularly intriguing.
With Sunil Narine picking up an injury, it’s unclear if the spinner will play a part on Wednesday. In case he misses out, his Windies compatriot Carlos Brathwaite could get the nod.
Likely teams
Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Nitish Rana, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik (c, wk), Andre Russel, Shubman Gill, Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicolas Pooran (w), Mandeep Singh, Andrew Tye, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot.
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