IPL 2023: Big ask for knights

Kolkata Knight Riders’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Pic/AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders have lived to fight another day. After the string of defeats had consigned them to ‘mission must-win' for their remaining league matches, KKR came dangerously close to having the door shut on them on Thursday. It was a fumbling Sunrisers that allowed the Knights escape to victory in Hyderabad.

KKR are nevertheless left with the near-impossible task of winning each of their four matches to keep playoff hopes alive. Worse, even as the Knights brace for battle against Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens on Monday, their gnawing thought will still be ‘things haven't quite fallen into place.' KKR have remained a daunting prospect, but only on paper. The dismissal of Rahamanulla Gurbaz on Thursday all but summed up their predicament in IPL-16.

Gurbaz, Roy need to fire

Buoyant from an 81 in the previous match, the Afghan was opening with the in-form Jason Roy for the first time. Gurbaz destroyed the possibilities by charging out, first ball, to Marco Jansen. Poor shot selection, often a manifestation of muddled match awareness, has dogged the Knights in Season 16. It's time to get it right and ride the positives that peep from the ruins of a disastrous campaign.

KKR's Jason Roy

Roy and Gurbaz present a destructive opening pair while Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh and even Andre Russell have hit the straps. Despite go-to man Sunil Narine having lost the bite, KKR's spin-heavy attack has held its own on most occasions. These and their first back-to-back matches at home may well lend Knights the inspiration they so desperately need.

Also Read: How Varun Chakravarthy spun his chakra to help KKR snatch win from jaws of defeat

PBKS's batting, a threat

Punjab's batting will pose the main threat. They come to Eden on the back of four successive 200-plus totals. While Liam Livingstone has been in prolific form, the likes of skipper Shikhar Dhawan, Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh and Sam Curran have often taken up the cudgels for them. Punjab's bowling has often gone off the boil but not Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm pacer is among the top wicket-takers this season and can peg back KKR with strikes in Powerplay.