The State of Play
Two teams with similar records in the IPL 2024 meet at Eden Gardens on Sunday when Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants bid to recover from suffering their second defeats in their fifth matches of the season.
LSG were thrashed by six wickets at home to the Delhi Capitals, for whom Kuldeep Yadav took 3/20, making use of a pitch which suited the seamers.
Captain KL Rahul hit 39 off 22 deliveries and Ayush Badoni was unbeaten on 55 off 35, while Ravi Bishnoi recorded 2/25 for Lucknow, who were beaten for the first time since their opening game.
Rahul pointed out that Rishabh Pant and Jake Frazer-McGurk “took the game away” from his side but warned that there was little time to dwell on the result with a two-day turnaround required including travel.
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“That’s how the schedule goes,” he said, adding that LSG “need to turn up” for a game which “could be tough”.
“In hindsight, you can always wonder if you could have done something different… I thought Pooran [who was out on his first ball] could have put some pressure on the opposition, if he was set. He would have been dangerous, but credit to Kuldeep for getting him out.”
Kolkata sustained an even heavier defeat on Monday, their three-match winning run coming to a close with a seven-wicket loss at home to Chennai Super Kings.
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KKR had been the only unbeaten team in the IPL apart from Rajasthan, and captain Shreyas Iyer said they had found Powerplay and the pitch difficult as their perfect start fell by the wayside.
The target of 138 set by KKR immediately looked to have put them in a perilous position, but they will be optimistic of returning to winning ways, not least if opening partners Sunil Narine and Phil Salt can hit form.
Pacer Mitchell Starc is yet to perform at his best in the competition but picked up his first wicket against CSK.
Happiness is contagious indeed ✨ pic.twitter.com/OlCpjkEMD8
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 13, 2024
Expected Line-ups
Kolkata Knight Riders: Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Lucknow Super Giants:KL Rahul (wk/c), Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Arshad Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Sunday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.50am BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Look inward, move forward 💙
Strong words from JL after yesterday’s result 👊 pic.twitter.com/K1Yf6Y5jFO
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 13, 2024
Prediction
On a pitch which could yield a sizeable number of runs, KKR’s home advantage gives them the slight edge.
They’re likely to be helped by the absence of one of the most feared new bowlers in the IPL – the ultra-quick Mayank Yadav – who’s likely to be out for the next two games for LSG with an abdominal problem.
“He looks good but we don’t want to rush him,” Rahul said of the 21-year-old’s progress. “We need to protect his body.
“He’s itching to go. We need to make sure that he’s 100% before he comes back.”
