Overview
The 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) marathon is reaching its halfway point, and the Kolkata Knight Riders are in danger of losing touch with top of the table if they suffer a fourth consecutive loss against Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. Kolkata suffered a four-wicket loss to the last-placed Delhi Capitals in their last outing, adding to their defeats to Mumbai and Hyderabad, both of whom were in the bottom half of the table at the time. Another loss, and the more pessimistic fans may consider the season a write-off.
Despite a strong batting line-up, Kolkata’s economy rate of 9.24 runs per over is almost as high as their scoring rate of 9.26. In the powerplay, Sunil Narine’s economy rate is 9.85, and Andre Russell’s is 11.50, making them among the worst performers in the tournament. On the other hand, Chennai’s numbers both with bat and ball in the first six overs bode well for them.
Chennai’s comfortable seven-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad was largely due to Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin. With the Eden surface likely to be very different from a slow and inconsistent Chepauk pitch, the team will look forward to more freedom for their batters and opportunities for their quicks. The team management has stuck with the Sri Lankan pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana despite the availability of Mitchell Santner.
However, Theekshana’s figures of 1-27 were slightly more expensive than the collective economy rate of his team on the day. There is the possibility of changes to bolster an already deep and flexible batting line-up. Stephen Fleming, the Chennai coach, confirmed that Ben Stokes will be out for at least another week with a toe injury, further increasing Santner’s chances of playing in the short term.
Though Kolkata fans have been extremely loyal to KKR over the years, expect a sea of yellow as the match could be MS Dhoni’s last at the iconic Eden Gardens.
#MSDhoni and the mighty #ChennaiSuperKings squad at Kolkata airport!
The anticipation for their #IPL2023 match against #KolkataKnightRiders is palpable. Could this be Dhoni’s last match at Eden Gardens? The crowd can’t wait to find out! #IPL23 #KKRvCSK@ThumsUpOfficial pic.twitter.com/KiTPzEoGfJ
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) April 22, 2023
Venue and time
Eden Gardens, Kolkata. 7:30 PM IST
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Head-to-head
Kolkata and Chennai have played against each other 26 times, and Chennai dominate the rivalry with 17 wins. At Eden Gardens, they have won 5 times to Kolkata’s 4.
Expected conditions and toss
The weather is expected to be cloudy on Sunday evening making it a pleasant affair for the cricketers and fans. However, there is a 20 per cent chance of rain which might make it a stop-start encounter. The team that wins the toss is likely to chase, given that the DLS Method could come into play.
Likely Playing XIs and Impact Player
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Anukul Roy or Suyash Sharma could be the Impact Player options for Kolkata Knight Riders, with both the spinners having a decent record in IPL 2023 so far. It remains to be seen whether Kolkata bench Litton Das, after his horrific wicket-keeping show in the last game, for Narayan Jagadeesan, and play an overseas pacer in Tim Southee or Lockie Ferguson.
For Chennai Super Kings, Akash Singh is the likely Impact Player if batting first, and Ambati Rayudu when chasing.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Litton Das (WK), Nitish Rana (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Kulwant Khejroliya, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav.
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (C, WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana.