An out-of-sorts Rising Pune Supergiants will play host to the most consistent team so far, the Kolkata Knight Riders, in the 20th match of the VIVO IPL 2016. These two teams have had contrasting fates this campaign. While the debutants have registered just one win from their four outings so far, the men in purple have been beaten just once this season.
This is only Pune’s second match at home, having lost their first one in the previous match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men won their opening encounter against the defending champions, the Mumbai Indians, but it has been all downhill for them since. They lost out to fellow debutants Gujarat Lions in their second game while a stuttering Kings XI Punjab and a rampaging Bangalore side made short work of them in the matches to follow.
For Kolkata, it has been a solid run, outclassing the Delhi Daredevils in all departments in their opener and then,narrowly losing to Mumbai at home. Gautam Gambhir's men bounced back in some style picking up victories in one-sided encounters against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab. The manner of their victories is also scary as far as their opponents are concerned, as they did not even seem to break sweat.
While both of Pune’s openers Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis have been amongst the runs with two half-centuries each, they have not been supported by the rest of the batsmen. Added to that, is the bad news of Kevin Pietersen’s calf injury that has ruled him out for the remainder of the tournament. Pietersen had got some good starts, but his absence leaves a void that really cannot be filled at this point.
Thus, in this match, Thisara Perrera and Mitchell Marsh might be playing together for the first time. While Perrera gave hope to Pune in the loss against Bangalore in the last match with his explosive 13-ball-34, Marsh, after his impressive spell against Mumbai (4-0-21-2) has failed with both bat and ball in the second match against Gujarat, prompting him to be dropped to make way for Perrera.
In this match, both might get to prove their credulity if Dhoni doesn’t go the way of Albie Morkel. Steve Smith still has to be the force everyone reckons and captain MS Dhoni with his fighting 38-ball-41 last time, has got to play more to his capabilities. All-rounder Rajat Bhatia has been decent so far with both bat and ball, and should play an important role against his former team.
The two Ashwins, off-spinner Ravichandran and leggie Murugan have led the spin line-up pretty well, and their performance will also be crucial. Ankit Sharma, the left arm spinner might also get the nod ahead of an out-of-form RP Singh as Dhoni trusts his spinner more and Ishant Sharma will be leading the pace line-up with Marsh.
Kolkata have hardly put a foot wrong in this tournament. Gautam Gambhir’s free-flowing runs have made sure Kolkata never had any major hiccups while batting. He will be hoping for a usual stellar performance tonight and also get back to lead the run-scoring chart. He has been supported by his similarly consistent opening partner, Robin Uthappa, and as it has happened once too often, if these two get going, the opponent’s going gets tough.
The only bad news for them is the absence of the classy Manish Pandey, who will miss the next few matches as he is down with chicken pox. Talented batsman Sheldon Jackson or Tamil Nadu veteran all-rounder R Sathish may get their first opportunity. The Knights easily have the best all-round combination as Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell and Shakib Al-Hasan form a formidable middle order. Spin maestro Sunil Narine will be supported by Piyush Chawla and also the left-arm orthodox bowling of Shakib. The pace attack comprises of Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav, both with plenty of pace and good economy.
Rising Pune Supergiants vs Kolkata Knight Riders 2016 LIVE Streaming Details:
TV Channel: Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Max
Online Stream: www.starsports.com, Hotstar App
Match Date: 23 April 2016, Saturday
Match Timing: 20:00 IST, 2:30 GMT
Match Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Assosiation Stadium, Pune
Broadcast Details for watching the match :
| India | Sony Max, Sony Six, Sony ESPN |
|---|---|
| Africa | SuperSport |
| Pakistan | Geo Super |
| Bangladesh | Maasranga |
| Caribbean | Sportsmax |
| Bhutan | Set Max, Sony Six |
| Canada | Sportsnet |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Malaysia | Astro |
| Sri Lanka | Carlton Sports Network |
| Hong Kong | PCCW |
| The Middle East and North Africa | OSN |
| United States | ESPN |
| Singapore | StarHub, Singtel |
| Australia | CricketGateway.com |
| The United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
| Nepal | Sony Six, Sony Max |
| Brunei | Astro |
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