- Kings XI Punjab crushed Kolkata Knight Riders in their early-season meeting.
- KKR cannot afford to lose Saturday's match in Indore.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a crunch Indian Premier League (IPL) outing at the Holkar Stadium, Indore Saturday, May 12.
When is KXIP vs KKR and how to watch it live on TV, online in India
The 44th match of IPL 2018 will start at 4 pm IST, 11: 30 am BST. Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Tamil will provide television coverage of the match in India.
Live stream will be available on Sony Liv.
KXIP vs KKR - Preview
Kings XI and the Knight Riders are on either side of fourth-placed Mumbai Indians on the points table. Both teams are heading into the match on the back of defeats and in desperate need of a win.
Hosts KXIP gifted two points to Rajasthan Royals Tuesday, May 8 after they failed to chase a modest total of 159 in Jaipur, leading to reported tension in the dressing room as co-owner Preity Zinta had questioned Virender Sehwag's tactics after the defeat.
R Ashwin's men have been too reliant on their openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul and the vulnerable, out-of-form middle order has been a big cause for concern. Notably, the big-hitting opening batsmen have scored more than 50% of KXIP numbers in the season while the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair and Aaron Finch have been unimpressive.
Despite the poor form, Singh might get back into the playing XI, given his experience of handling pressure in crunch moments. At the Holkar Stadium where the boundaries are smaller than normal, KXIP will definitely need their big-hitters to come to the party.
A win will not only take them a step closer to the playoffs but will bring relief to the dressing room after losing three of their last four matches.
On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik's Knight Riders will be all but out of the playoffs race if they suffer another defeat. The former champions are heading to Indore on the back of a spirit-crushing 102-run defeat at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, May 9.
The return of Shubman Gill will be a big boost to the Knight Riders but concerns over fitness of Andre Russell remain.
KXIP vs KKR - Team News
Kings XI Punjab probable playing XI: R Ashwin (c), Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Rehman.
Kolkata Knight Riders probable playing XI: Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Tom Curran, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
IPL 2018 live stream and global TV listings
UK: TV - Sky Sports; Live stream - skysports.com, Sky Go
USA: Willow, Hotstar
Pakistan: TV - Geo Super; Live stream - www.geosuper.tv, www.geo.tv
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
