After pulling a win from the jaws of defeat, the Kolkata Knight Riders will be in confident mood when they face-off against the equally buoyant Lahore Lions in a Champions League T20 2014 game in Hyderabad on Sunday.
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Match 7 of the CLT20 2014 main draw is scheduled for an 8 pm IST (3.30 pm BST, 10.30 am ET) start with live coverage on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 (in Hindi) and Star Sports HD1. The match can also be watched via free live streaming online in India. Viewers in the US can catch all the action on ESPN, with the option available for live streaming. Canada viewers will be able to view the game on Sportsnet or live online.
Catch the action in the UK and Europe on Eurosport, while viewers can also watch online through a live stream. Rest of the world viewers can catch all the match action viafree online live streaming. Middle East and North Africa viewers go to OSN Play to watch the match online, while the match can be live streamed in South Africa and Sub Saharan.
KKR looked to be headed for a sure-fire defeat against the Chennai Super Kings in their CLT20 2014 opener, only for Andre Russell and Ryan Ten Doeschate to play a couple of stunning innings to capture a victory.
It is clear this KKR side are at their best chasing a total, and after picking up ten wins in a row in all competitions in T20, it will take a seriously impeccable performance from the Lahore Lions to prevent the IPL 2014 champions from making it 11 wins in a row.
KKR, though, will not let complacency seep into the squad. "The Pakistani team is a bit of an unknown quantity to many teams," coach Trevor Bayliss said. "They have a few international players, but the rest we don't know of much.
"Also, there aren't really any favourites in the T20 format. One guy from a team has a good day and they win the game. People may construe that being the IPL champions is being the favourites, but in T20 cricket there are no favourites."
The Lahore Lions, who had to earn their place in the main draw of the CLT20 2014 via the qualifiers, are also champions in their own league, having clinched the T20 title in Pakistan, and with the likes of Mohammed Hafeez and Umar Akmal in the lineup, they are a force to reckon with against any side.
The fact that the Lions have a pretty good bowling lineup, also gives them an extra edge. "As a team we played good cricket in the qualifiers and the most deserving teams have qualified," skipper Hafeez said. "We have momentum and confidence going into the league group. We now believe in ourselves more than we did when we came here. Everyone is ready and excited to perform."
The Lahore Lions will also take confidence from the fact that they have already beaten an IPL team in the CLT20 2014 – the Mumbai Indians – and that too quite convincingly.
"It's a great experience to come and perform in India," added Hafeez. "When you play well, people here support you and the support is getting bigger for Lahore Lions. We promise exciting cricket to them.
"All the teams are champion teams. They have big names and experience. We have talent. If we play well, we can beat any team."