It’s the clash of the table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and Number 2 on the points table Gujarat Lions in the 38th match of the IPL. Both teams have played some outstanding cricket in the tournament. Gujarat though has lost the track a bit and lost 3 games in a row. On the contrary, Kolkata has won 2 in a row at home.
KKR are coming to this match after 2 good wins first over RCB and then KXIP. They chased down a huge score of 185 against RCB. Yusuf Pathan played a devastating innings of 60 runs off 29 balls. Then they defended a par score of 164 against KXIP and survived a last over the finish to win by just 7 runs.
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The Match will be live from 20:00 IST, 2:30 GMT. Watch live streaming of KKR v/s GL on www.starsports.com and www.hotstar.com. Mobile users can watch live streaming of KKR v/s GL on the Hotstar App. You can also watch the live telecast of KKR v/s GL on Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Max. The match will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa have provided wonderful starts more often than not. Both are amongst the top 10 run getters in the tournament. Gambhir has scored 393 runs in 9 innings with 4 fifties while Uthappa has 313 runs with 3 fifties.
The batting line up is boosted by the return of Manish Pandey on the side. Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell have been incredible in providing the impetus down the order. Both have humongous strike rates of 163 and 157 respectively. With such a batting line up, the side is capable of winning matches from any position.
Where Andre Russell marks his presence doubly important is by his smart bowling. He is the current holder of the purple cap with 13 wickets. His best bowling figures in the tournament are 20/4. His pace partner Umesh Yadav has picked up 10 wickets in 8 games. Morne Morkel has done well in whatever opportunities he has got. Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine represent the spin department well.
Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, have suffered 3 consecutive losses after a superb start. It had to be difficult for them as they are on a long away run. Despite the losses, they have managed to stay at number 2 on the points table. They would love to return to the winning ways at the historic Eden Gardens.
Their batsmen are struggling to score big runs. In last 3 innings, they have only managed team totals of 126, 147 and 131. It has much to do with the failures of the opening pair of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum. Both had provided fast starts to innings in the earlier half of the tournament but have struggled with partnerships of just 2, 17 and 13 in the last 3 games.
The middle and the lower order haven’t been able to recover from the early losses. Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo all have gone downhill in the past few games.
Bowlers have had a tough time defending mediocre totals set by the batsmen. They have fought hard though to stretch the games until the end. Dwayne Bravo is 5th amongst the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 12 wickets but he is conceding close to 9 runs an over. Dhawal Kulkarni is a positive for the team as he has bagged 9 wickets with an economy rate of 6.92.
Both teams will fight hard as the winner will top the points table with a win. KKR will start favourites with the kind of form they are in as well as the home advantage will be in their favour.
The match will be broadcasted live on SuperSport in Africa, Geo Super in Pakistan, Maasranga in Bangladesh, Set Max and Sony Six in Bhutan, ESPN in the US, and Sky Sports in the UK. The live streaming of the match can also be watched on CricketGateway.com in Australia.
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