13 April,2024 01:40 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Mayank Yadav (Pic: File Pic)
Kolkata Knight Riders will be keen to get back to winning ways when they lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2024.
The match will be KKR's first of the five matches at home on the trot and the Gautam Gambhir-mentored side will be fully aware this can prove decisive to clinch the play-off spot for the first time since 2021.
LSG will clash with KKR in the 28th fixture of the IPL 2024 without having the services of their pace sensation Mayank Yadav. The pacer will need some more time to recover from his injury.
In the points tally, nothing separates the two teams, both of whom have secured three wins each, and lost their respective last-round matches. KKR's over-reliance on their Caribbean ageing duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell was exposed by defending champions Chennai Super Kings when they lost by seven wickets in their previous outing.
Narine (27) and Russell (10) failed with the bat and the team, who had posted two 200-plus scores from three matches on the back of the Caribbean duo's blazing form, could manage an under-par 137/9 at Chennai.
That sums up KKR's batting that has relied on some odd fireworks and missed an anchor in the absence of Nitish Rana (finger injury), who is slated to sit out of another match.
KKR captain Shreyas Iyer has failed to make an impact from the beginning of the IPL 2024 and his scores give an abysmal picture 0, 39 not out, 18 and 34.
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Their other designated batter Venkatesh Iyer has three single-digit scores this season to go with one odd fifty against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the team, it seems, doesn't have a clear role for him.
From batting at No. 3 in their IPL opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Iyer was seen in the finisher's role at No. 7 and No. 5 in their last two matches.
Ramandeep Singh also had a lean run after an impressive 35 against SRH. The 2022 U-19 World Cup-winning Angkrish Raghuvanshi has impressed the most following his 54 against Delhi Capitals. And he would like to return among runs after failing to convert his start against CSK.
Mitchell Starc's poor form with the ball has also been the talk of the town. The Aussie speed gun has an economy of 11.00 and took his first wicket of this IPL against DC after giving away 100 runs in the first two matches.
Having come as Impact Subs, left-arm orthodox spinner Anukul Roy has been impressive and he would like to forge a formidable partnership with Narine.
Mayank's replacement Arshad Khan failed to impress, conceding at 10.73 runs over as they failed to defend 167 at home against DC last evening.
Mohsin Khan, who claimed 2/34 against Punjab Kings, could be a perfect replacement but it remains to be seen if he's fully recovered from his hamstring injury that had sidelined the left-arm pacer.
The team owned by Kolkata-based industrialist Sanjeev Goenka will hope for a much better show after mustering an average of 167/7 against DC on Friday.
Quinton De Kock and KL Rahul will look forward to scoring runs while their middle order also consists of players like Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis. Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishonib will have to pose some tough questions against KKR.
Squads for IPL 2024:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, K. Gowtham, Arshin Kulkarni, M. Siddharth, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry and Mohd Arshad Khan.
(With PTI Inputs)
