It’s a contest between the high flyers of the IPL 2017 against a team that can get hardly anything right. Kolkata Knight Riders have done phenomenally well in this IPL, and it is only because Mumbai Indians have had their best season ever that they are second in the IPL table.
Kolkata Knight Riders have won their last three games, having beaten Delhi Daredevils by four wickets, Sunrisers Hyderabad by 17 runs and Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets. They are indeed having a purple patch.
Gujarat Lions on the other hand, are placed last, having lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 21 runs and to Mumbai Indians by six wickets. Their only win in IPL 2017 was against the equally under performing Rising Pune Supergiant who they beat by seven wickets
So, this is a content in which the Kolkata side start off as strong favourites. This, in spite of the fact that they are without Andre Russell, who is a crucial player for them and considered to be one of the best T20 players in the world. Russell has been banned for a year because of his failure to attend a drug test.
But KKR have coped so well without Russell that their star all-rounder – Shakib Al Hasan – cannot get a game for the side.
Gujarat Lions on the other hand have struggled without their best player Dwayne Bravo. The West Indian all-rounder and T20 specialist is still a “couple of games” away from featuring for the side after suffering a serious hamstring injury. This is unfortunate and the Gujarat team has looked rudderless so far.
Andrew Tye has been a good addition to Gujarat side. He has a phenomenal economy rate of 4.66 in the powerplay overs. They would expect him to lead the attack till Bravo recovers. KKR meanwhile look set to try a new opening combination, perhaps Gautam Gambhir with Colin de Grandhomme of New Zealand.
The Teams
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Colin de Grandhomme, 3 Robin Uthappa (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Chris Woakes/Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Umesh Yadav/Piyush Chawla.
Gujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch/Jason Roy/James Faulkner, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Ishan Kishan, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Shadab Jakati
Watch Kolkata Knight Riders take on Gujarat Lions live from Kolkata, at April 21, 2017 at 2000 local (1430 GMT) on Sony Six!
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