KKR desperate to make a comeback, MS Dhoni’s fans will come to complete the hat-trick of victory
Kolkata. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who are in trouble due to defeat in three consecutive matches, will have to do their best to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Chennai Super Kings here on Sunday. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side have won both the previous matches and will be aiming to consolidate their position in the points table by registering a third consecutive win here. KKR currently have four points from six matches. He had a good start but in the last three matches he had to face defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.
Of these three teams, Delhi and Hyderabad are struggling this season while Mumbai have made a comeback only in the last few matches. Delhi registered their first win of the current season by defeating KKR after losing five matches in a row. KKR had to face defeat in the last three matches due to the collective failure of the batsmen while their bowlers performed well in the meanwhile. In the last match against Delhi, KKR batsmen did not score runs in 67 balls and their entire team was dismissed for 127 runs. KKR will have to come back soon by improving their performance as any laxity can cost the team dearly.
England opener Jason Roy got the team off to a good start in the last match but his teammate Liton Das of Bangladesh could not get going. In such a situation, the bowling attack can be strengthened by keeping Narayan Jagadishan as the wicket-keeper batsman. Andre Russell’s return to form was a positive aspect for KKR in the match against Delhi and the team would expect him to strike again. KKR bowlers have done well so far but Sunil Narine did not get going in the last match and will look to make a strong comeback against Chennai. Eden Gardens is KKR’s home ground but on Sunday it might be painted in Dhoni’s colours. This could be the last match of this charismatic wicket-keeper batsman at this historic ground. This is the reason why there is a huge demand for tickets for this match. Chennai Super Kings have performed well in the previous matches.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and his New Zealand opening partner Devon Conway are getting the team off to a good start. The New Zealand batsman has been playing the spinners well and looks set to take on the challenge from Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Chennai’s spin trio Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Mahesh Tikshna will also be ready to show their magic but Sri Lankan fast bowler Mathisha Pathirana has proved to be the trump card for Chennai. KKR batsmen will have to play carefully in front of them.
Teams are as follows:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Liton Das, Mandeep Singh, Jason Roy.
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (Captain), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangergekar, Dwayne Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mathisha Pathirana, Simarjit Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Mahesh Tikshna, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Sheikh Rashid, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagat Verma, Akash Singh. The match will start at 7.30 pm Indian time.
