Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have a rivalry which goes down right from the annual year back in 2008. Conceivably because of the fierce competition or the star Bollywood backing, but the clash has never failed to amaze. Finding themselves in a must-win-at-all-costs situation, there is room for only one IPL play-off berth after Mumbai Indians edged past Sunrisers Hyderabad to claim the third spot.
While both teams have been inconsistent, a win for either team gives them the advantage to get near the final play-off berth remaining. Getting down to the point on how both teams have performed so far, the hosts have a slight edge over KKR in this one but as unpredictable as the IPL has been so far, anything is possible.
For Kolkata Knight Riders: The KKR side found themselves on top of the world after they posted a mammoth 232/2 against Mumbai Indians at Edens, ending their losing streaks after six consecutive losses. The win over MI gives KKR an advantage, especially with their players pitching in. With Shubman Gill playing a sublime inning in the previous match and Dre Russ going crazy as usual, KKR has to work on their bowling unit, which has been a downfall for them. KKR won the previous encounter against Punjab and will hope to do a double today.
For Kings XI Punjab: The Ravichandran Ashwin led team are repeating their same mistake from their previous seasons and nothing seems to be working for them at the moment. With a pre-dominant batting unit, their bowling has caved in plenty of times to which they have succumbed to losses. A vulnerable middle-order and a woeful lower order have been KXIP's weakness as well and they need a batsman to stick around other than KL Rahul to work.
Probable Playing XI's for KXIP vs KKR
Probable Playing XI for Kings XI Punjab: Probable XI: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Sam Curran, Mandeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin(C), Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Andrew Tye
Probable Playing XI for Kolkata Knight Riders: Probable XI: Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(C, WK), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Harry Gurney, Piyush Chawla, Sandeep Warrier.
