The reverse fixtures have begun in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the 39th match will see Kolkata Knight Riders hosting the Gujarat Titans. The last time these two teams played, Rinku Singh turned out to be the hero smashing five sixes in the last over to take KKR home in a crazy finish. However, a lot has changed since then. KKR lost four matches in a row but are coming off a win over RCB and will need to continue their winning momentum to have any chance of making it to the top four.
The Titans, on the other hand, are sitting pretty at the third position with 10 points from 8 matches so far. They are coming off a thumping win over Mumbai Indians by 55 runs in the previous game and had also won against LSG prior to that by 7 runs. This is a good chance for them to make it a hattrick of wins and go top of the points table. A win for KKR in this encounter will bring them back into contention for the playoffs and expect this to be a close encounter yet again.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Match 39
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
Probable Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: N Jagadeesan (wk), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy. Impact sub - Suyash Sharma
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma
Pitch and Weather Report
The surface at the Eden Gardens is full of runs especially this season. All three matches at the venue has witnessed scores well above 200 and the average of 222 proves it. Also, the team batting first has won all three matches and with this being an afternoon game, the team winning the toss is likely to bat first as well.
There is no chance of rain during the match in Kolkata on Saturday. The sun will be shining brightly and the temperature is likely to be around 35-38 Degrees Celsius.
Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill is due for a big score and what better time than this to score against your previous franchise! Gill has so far scored 284 runs in seven matches at an average of over 40 and the strike rate of 142.71. But that breakthrough innings is yet to come from him. With the batter returning to the Eden Gardens, he might just light up the venue with his majestic batting.
Best Bowler of the Match: Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan has been in terrific form this season picking up 14 wickets so far. Moreover, he accounted for a stunning hattrick the last time GT faced KKR earlier this season. He has also dismissed Andre Russell three times that makes him a hot favourite pick to become the best bowler of the match.
Who will win the Match: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
