Halfway into the IPL and the points table is nicely stacked up. We are in for another roller coaster end to this IPL season looking at how teams have shaped up and have raised their game at the business end of the tournament. Sunday promises to be another such spectacle at Eden Gardens. The fact that this could be Dhoni's last visit at d Eden would make it even more special.
Chennai Super Kings:
Dhoni's final dance is going pretty good at the moment. Everything he is touching is turning into gold be it Ajinkya Rahane playing like a proper T20 batter or Pathirana closing out games without any experience. CSK would look to help Dhoni qualify for the playoffs as they look determined than ever. They were clinical against Sunrisers at Chepauk in their last game and the conditions at the Eden would help them too.
Kolkata Knight Riders;
After gifting DC their first win of the competition, KKR would be looking to bounce back and start winning before they lag far behind the pecking order in quest to reach the playoffs. KKR's season has been filled with ups and downs. This is not how they will make it to the playoffs. Their foreign superstars need to step up and make a statement.
Players to watch out for:
Ruturaj Gaikwad:
Whenever Gaikwad gets going, chances of CSK winning the game goes high considerably. He has been a thorn in the flesh between the opponents for years now. A potential successor to Dhoni in the longer run.
Jason Roy:
After a wonderful PSL,Jason Roy had to wait for a longer time to get into the 11 as Gurbaz was having a great start to the tournament. If KKR has to get a good start they would be banking on Jason Roy to provide it to them. None of their overseas recruit have been able to make an impact which would make the owners. Sunday might just be the day.
Probable Playing XIII:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Litton Das (WK), Nitish Rana (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur / Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson / Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav (Impact Subs: N Jagadeesan, Mandeep Singh, D Wiese, V Arora, Suyash Sharma)
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesa Pathirana, Akash Singh, Tushar Deshpande (Impact Subs: A Rayudu, S Rasheed, N Sindhu, R Hangagrekar, S Senapati)
Interesting Facts:
- Head to Head: In the 27 meetings between the two sides in IPL since 2008, CSK has a clear advantage having won 17 times against KKR, who have won 9 times against the Chennai-based franchise, while 1 match has ended in No Result. In the last 6 meetings, it's 4-2 in favour of CSK.
- Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings) is 16 runs away from completing 1000 runs in IPL.
- Ambati Rayudu (Chennai Super Kings) is 47 runs away from completing 6000 runs in T20 cricket (overall).
- Devon Conway (Chennai Super Kings) is 93 runs away from completing 5000 runs in T20 cricket (overall).
- Lockie Ferguson (Kolkata Knight Riders) is 3 scalps away from completing 150 wickets in T20 Cricket (overall).
- Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders) is 2 fours away from completing 500 fours in T20 Cricket (overall). He is also 6 maximums away from 600 sixes in T20 Cricket (Overall). He is also 7 wickets away from 400 wickets in the shortest format.
(Credits: mykhel.com)
Weather and Pitch Report:
The pitch at Kolkata's Eden Gardens offers a batting-friendly surface with an average first-innings score of 172. Kolkata scored 228 runs while batting first in the last game here, and opponent Hyderabad also replied with a 200-plus total. Fans can expect another high-scoring encounter on Sunday. (Credits: www.crictracker.com)
The Temperature is expected about 35 degrees Celsius and a wind will flow at the speed 4 km/h, Which is normal at this venue.
The high humidity is expected, i.e. approx. 42%, and the Air Quality Index(AQI) is reported as 128 with Haze, which is not good. There is a less chance of rain during the match. (Credits: https://www.icccricketschedule.com/)
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Date & Time: 23rd April 2023, 7: 30 PM IST
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Jio Cinema
Dream11 Team:
