IPL 2017: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Lions, 5 factors of winning

#4 Pitch and Conditions

Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey come into the game with supreme confidence after a superb partnership in their last game

The wicket at the Eden Gardens has been relaid and the hard new surface will help the fast bowlers of the Knight Riders. Umesh Yadav and Nathan Coulter-Nile will look to hit the deck hard and extract as much as possible from this relaid wicket.

As the ball gets soft, the spinner will come into play and the Knight Riders rely heavily on their spin department in the middle overs to put the brakes on the scoring rate.

The batting line up of the Gujarat Lions would enjoy the conditions on offer at the ground as the ball will skid on to the bat making it easy for stroke-play in the initial overs. The Lions will also be benefited by the large boundaries as this will give their spinners he much-needed cushion.

Once the ball gets a little soft, it will make the execution of big shots a tad difficult and this would give the bowling unit of the Lions confidence.