Overview:
We've almost arrived towards the fag end of the league stages of the 15th edition of IPL. So far, there have been some amazing and entertaining games. This one promises to be something similar. It's gonna be a tight battle between Lucknow Supergiants and Kolkata Knight Riders.
LSG have been good so far in the ongoing season. They have a balanced lineup. Their current form has been good as they're on a winning streak. KKR on the other hand have just returned back to winning ways after a streak of five consecutive losses. They would be wanting to continue on their good process.
Team News
LSG
They're looking like a well-oiled unit. They've world class openers like Kl Rahul and Quinton De Kock. Though De Kock hasn't been at his absolute best, he's still going well. Their middle order is quite decent. The likes of Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, and Marcus Stoinis form a good middle order. Even Jason Holder can bat lower down the order.
Their bowling has been really good as well. The likes of Dushmantha Chameera and Mohsin Khan have evolved well as good new ball bowlers. Mohsin Khan has been impressive across various phases of the game. Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya form a good spin bowling pair. LSG has the best economy rate and most wickets for spinners in the ongoing season.
Jason Holder constantly picks wickets. Avesh Khan can bowl in any phase of the game. Not to forget that Marcus Stoinis and Deepak Hooda can bowl as well. So, they're a well-balanced side with a lot of options. They're well led by Kl Rahul, who's also firing with the bat.
KKR
Though they've returned back to winning ways, not everything is sorted for them. Their opening pair has been an issue. They've used as many as five opening pairs so far. And yet, they haven't found a genuine opening pair. That has been a big concern for them.
The addition of Rinku Singh has been good. He has been consistent and performed well so far. Nitish Rana has looked decent in his last few matches. Shreyas Iyer has been among runs. If all of them fire, then their best batter Andre Russell can do what he usually does, rip apart the bowlers.
Their bowling has been good overall. Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee are good new ball bowlers. Sunil Narine needs no introduction and is at his miserly best. Their other bowlers need to step up. One loss from here, KKR would be in big trouble. LSG would be a tough challenge for them.
Probable Playing XI
LSG
Kl Rahul (C)
Quinton De Kock (WK)
Deepak Hooda
Marcus Stoinis
Krunal Pandya
Ayush Badoni
Jason Holder
Krishnappa Gowtham
Dushmantha Chameera
Ravi Bishnoi
Avesh Khan
KKR
Baba Indrajith (WK)
Aaron Finch
Shreyas Iyer (C)
Nitish Rana
Rinku Singh
Andre Russell
Sunil Narine
Anukul Roy
Tim Southee
Umesh Yadav
Shivam Mavi
Key Stats
- Andre Russell is just 66 runs away from completing 2000 runs for KKR. He would be just the fourth KKR batter to do so.
- Kl Rahul is just 49 runs away from scoring 500 runs in the ongoing season. If he crosses the mark, he would be just the second batter to score 500 runs in five consecutive IPL seasons after David Warner.
- Kolkata Knight Riders are yet to win a game in the ongoing season by batting first.
- This is the first time ever that Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Supergiants are facing each other.
Pitch and conditions
The match will take place in MCA stadium, Pune. It has short boundaries all over. The pitch is very good to bat on, but also has assistance for the pacers early on and for the spinners in the middle overs. It's been two paced so far in the season and the audience can expect a competitive game.
When, where and how to watch?
The match between LSG and KKR will start at 7:30pm IST on 7th May 2022. It'll take place in MCA stadium, Pune. With the match happening on Saturday, there might be good crowd for the available occupancy.
The TV airing of the match will be available on the Star Sports network. The live streaming of the match will be available in the Disney plus Hotstar app for the mobile and laptop users.
Dream11 Team
