IPL 2019: Knight Riders, Kings look to build on winning start

Tags: Indian T20 Cricket 2019, Kolkata XI, Punjab XI

Published on: Mar 26, 2019

Kings Xi Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning run when they face each other at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, March 27.

Kings Xi Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning run when they face each other at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, March 27.

While Kings got the better of Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs in a match marred by the Mankading controversy, Kolkata came from behind to stun Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Eden Gardens has been a favorite hunting ground for KKR over the years so they might hold a certain edge. And so, Punjab will have to be at their very best so as to avoid stumbling.

The first game was undoubtedly all about Andre Russell. His smashing innings turned around what seemed like a lost cause for the Knight Riders. The contribution of Nitish Rana, who made a half-century while batting cannot be underestimated.

Kolkata would hope that Chris Lynn and skipper Dinesh Karthik can come good at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Additionally, they would also want the trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla to recover from the pasting they got at the hands of David Warner.

As for Punjab, they will have to put the Mankading controversy behind them and look at the positives. Another stunning effort from Chris Gayle would have certainly pleased them, as would have the impressive batting effort of Sarfaraz Khan.

In the bowling Mujeeb ur Rahman was excellent as he claimed 2 for 31 while Ashwin himself was economical. Getting through Kolkata in their home den will still be a tough ask though.

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Robin Uthappa, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Russell, KC Cariappa, Nitish Rana, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, Yarra Prithviraj

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin(capt), Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Simran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Moises Henriques, Varun Chakravarthy, Sam Curran, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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