The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on the two-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It is 26th match of the ongoing IPL sixth season.
Overview:
The KKR have four points on the table after winning two of the five matches played so far. Inconsistent performance is the biggest worry of the team, losing to Kings XI Punjab after belting a total of 180 runs in the previous match. However, they have good record on home turf, winning both the games played at Eden Gardens this season. They will be keen to win Saturday's match as well.
The CSK have secured six points on the table from five games, winning on three occasions. They pulled up a big win against the Delhi Daredevils in the last match after conceding defeat to the Pune Warriors India in the previous game. The 86-run win against DD will boost their confidence.
Previous Meetings:
CSK have met KKR 10 times in the past and have 6-4 win-lost record. CSK defeated KKR in three of the four matches played at Kolkata.
Team News:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Skipper Gautam Gambhir is the only consistent performer in the team, which can be a big worry as the tournament progresses. They lost the previous match despite Gambhir's knock of 60 and Eoin Morgan's 47. Other batsmen like Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla and Yusuf Pathan need to perform. Brendon McCullum, who is known for destructing batting, is likely to return to the team on Saturday.
Sunil Narine's performance has been outstanding in the IPL sixth season. He and Jacques Kallis took three wickets apiece in the previous match too. They also have Brett Lee, Rajat Bhatia and Sachithra Senanayake and Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Chennai Super Kings: The top order - Murali Vijay, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and skipper MS Dhoni - performed well in the last match, putting up a big total of 169 runs on the board. They need to put up a similar show on Saturday too. They also have Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and Subramaniam Badrinath in the batting line-up.
In the bowling department, they have Dirk Nannes, Ankit Rajpoot, Chris Morris, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and Ravichandran Ashwin. Mohit Sharma took three wickets and Ashwin took two in the last match.
Prediction:
CSK is a balanced team led by skipper MS Dhoni from the front, but considering KKR's record at home this season, Gautam Gambhir's men have a slight edge over Dhoni's men on Saturday.
SQUADS:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Brendon McCullum, Brett Lee, Debabrata Das, Eoin Morgan, Iqbal Abdulla, Jacques Kallis, James Pattinson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla, Shami Ahmed, Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan McLaren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Sachithra Senanayake, Sarabjit Ladda, Shakib Al Hassan, Sunil Narine, Yusuf Pathan
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Albie Morkel, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ankit Rajpoot, Baba Aparajith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Bravo, Francois du Plessis, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Karthikeyan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ronit More, Shadab Jakati, Subramaniam Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 4:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
