KKR and Rising Pune Supergiant are the two in-form terms of the IPL 2017. The last time the two teams played, Robin Uthappa of KKR smashed a brilliant 47-ball 87 that helped his team chase down a high score of 183 with 2 overs to spare.
The KKR have so far chased down and won their last three games against Rising Pune Supergiant. They however lost their last game to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 48 runs because of a brilliant hundred by David Warner, which has pushed them to second on the points table. They can get back to the #1 position by beating Pune in tonight’s game.
Rising Pune Supergiant have won their last two games, having beaten Gujarat Lions by five wickets and Royal Challengers Bangalore by 61 runs. In the last game, Ben Stokes came to the party, hitting a brilliant hundred, when chasing a high total under pressure.
For KKR, Chris Lynn has rejoined the squad and has been training again. He is expected to be back for the clash against Kings XI Punjab on May 9 or perhaps against the Mumbai Indians on May 13.
Shakib Al Hasan should be disappointed as he has got only one game for Knight Riders all season. This game against the Rising Pune is his last before he joins the Bangladesh’s training camp in Sussex before a tri-nation tournament involving Bangladesh, Ireland and New Zealand.
One does not expect too many changes in this match, but KKR are well placed with an excellent bowling attack and an in-form batting line-up. Gautam Gambhir has been consistent without being spectacular and Robin Uthappa has been smashing the ball all over the park.
There is already a lot of talk asking for the two to come back into the Indian team. Could this happen? Only time will tell as both players are well into their 30s, so the selectors would be wary about giving them another go in the national team.
The Teams
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Robin Uthappa (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Sheldon Jackson, 7 Colin de Grandhomme/Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Kuldeep Yadav.
Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 MS Dhoni (wk), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Daniel Christian, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Imran Tahir.
Watch Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rising Pune Supergiant tonight at 8 pm on Sony Six!
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