CRICKET
IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants Predictions
Playing their first ever IPL edition and quite near to become the first team to qualify for the play-offs, Lucknow Super Giants look to settle for nothing less than a Maiden Championship title this year.
There were quite speculations around this new franchise once they stepped in the IPL but they have certified their place through their skill set and some clinical performances.
With a win in the 53rd IPL match on this Saturday, Super Giants will easily march into the next stage of the tournament.
On the quite opposite side, Kolkata Knight Riders campaign this year has been nothing short of horrible, to say the least.
If they don’t manage to sneak past a win this Saturday, they are all but gone from this year’ IPL.
KKR could not get many things straight this year.
The combination which looked quite solid on the paper with some veteran players could not deliver on the ground hence just managing 4 wins so far in this season.
Kolkata ended their 4 match losing streak by beating Rajasthan Royals in their last match but this consoling win will not be enough to push them over the line and to the play-offs.
Their batting has not clicked with some exceptions.
Bowling looked meagre except for Sunil Narine.
Narine has the second best economy rate of 5.00 this season for bowlers who bowled around 10 overs in the middle phase of the game.
Knight Riders have also the worst average of 14 of opening stand this year as they have tested around 5 opening pairs this season, the most by any team.
Lucknow has got their combination right for the most part.
Manish Pandey was left out after he struggled with his form and brought an extra bowler.
This gave Deepak Hooda an opportunity at one down which he cashed in perfectly scoring quick fire 34 and 52 in two games.
Lucknow’s bowling has been above the par with the likes of Chameera, Mohsin Khan and Ravi Bishnoi.
Jason Holder has been critical for them bowling the death overs with his special skill set.
Match details:
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Date: 7th May 2022
Time: 7:30 pm IST
Head to head past record:
Match 53 will be the first instance where both teams will face each other for the first time ever in an IPL match.
Probable Playing 11 – Lucknow Super Giants:
Quinton de Kock(wk), KL Rahul(C), Deepak Hooda, Marus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, K Gowtham, Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chmaeera, Ravi Bishnoi
Probable Playing 11 – Kolkata Knight Riders:
B Indrajith(wk), Aaron Finch, Sheryas Iyer(C), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russel, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi
Star bowler of the match:
Dushmantha Chameera
Star batsman of the match:
Nitish Rana
Who will win?
Ten matches have been played at Pune this year and in all these matches, captains have sought to prefer bowling second in the game.
However, the result has been on the contrary.
The team bowling second has only won 3 out of 10 matches.
So, the toss will be looked upon as crucial and also, what decision the team takes who wins the toss.
Lucknow Super Giants are a clear favourite in this game but Knight Riders can pull a rabbit out of hat and create an upset in Saturday’s game.