IPL 2018, Match 18: KKR vs KXIP - Preview, head-to-head, pitch report & key stats

The two-time champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, will be up against the confident King XI Punjab for the 18th match of the season.

KXIP and KKR, both, will be entering the encounter with a win in their previous match. KKR would be on cloud nine after their third win in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab would be coming on the back of two consecutive wins. Kings XI will be riding high on confidence after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad comprehensively in their previous encounter.

This match will prove to be crucial for both the teams as both KKR and KXIP would be hoping to strengthen their place in the top four of the points table.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab, Details

Match Date: 21 April 2018, Saturday

Match Timing: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

Match Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata India

Expected Crowd Turnout: With an expected crowd attendance of 63,000, the game is expected to be a house-full.

Weather

There is a forecast of 5 mm rainfall. The humidity levels will be as high as 82%. Thus, it is expected to be a humid evening in Kolkata. Hence, with a forecast of light rain, the game might get curtailed.

Pitch report

The Eden Gardens track is considered to be a batting paradise. However, spinners might come into play as the game unfolds. With the high humidity levels, dew might affect the nature of the pitch.

Head-to-head

KKR 14 - KXIP 7. KKR have a decent edge over KXIP with fourteen wins under their belt in comparison to seven wins for the latter.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL 2018 Squad:

Dinesh Karthik has managed their troops very well

Robin Uthappa (wk), Dinesh Karthik (c), Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Mitchell Johnson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Tom Curran, Ishank Jaggi, and Prasidh Krishna.

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) IPL 2018 Squad:

Ravichandran Ashwin will be hoping to continue their winning streak

Lokesh Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Manoj Tiwary, Barinder Sran, Akshdeep Nath, Ben Dwarshuis, Pradeep Sahu, and Manzoor Dar.

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All the stats and numbers to look out ahead of the match No. 18 between KKR and KXIP:

2 – Dinesh Karthik needs to hit two more fours to complete 300 IPL fours. Hitting these two fours, Dinesh Karthik will become the only eleventh player in the history of IPL to hit 300 or more fours.

3 – Piyush Chawla requires four more wickets to surpass Amit Mishra on the list of most IPL wickets. Scalping these four wickets, Piyush Chawla will become the second highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL.

3 – Ravichandran Ashwin requires three more wickets to surpass Ashish Nehra on the list of most IPL wickets. Scalping these three wickets, Ashwin will become the seventh highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL.

94 – Robin Uthappa needs 94 more runs to achieve the feat of 4000 IPL runs. Amassing these runs, Robin will become the only sixth player in the history of IPL to score 4000 or more runs.