IPL 2019: Match 6, KKR vs KXIP Today's Predicted Playing 11, Preview & Key Players

Both Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab will look to register their second win of the Indian Premier League 2019, when they go up against each other in this sixth game of the 2019 edition at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday, March 27.

Head to Head Overall Stats: KKR and KXIP have shared the ground on 23 occasions, with the men from Kolkata securing the honors in 15 games.

Head to Head at Eden Gardens: Kolkata Knight Riders have hosted the Punjab lions in 10 games and comprehensively leads the scoreline by 7-3 margin.

Kolkata Knight Riders Perspective

Kolkata Knight Riders (Source - iplt20.com)

KKR are coming on the back of an impressive six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the campaign opener and they will aim to make it two in two against the Kings XI Punjab.

Please check out the updated KKR vs KXIP Playing 11 here.

Batting

Key Players - Chris Lynn, Nitish Rana & Robin Uthappa

Nitish Rana made a strong statement in the previous game by smashing 68 runs off 47 balls and shared 80 run second wicket stand with Robin Uthappa, who played a steady 27-ball 35 runs knock to lay down a commanding platform for the chase and the fans will except them to replicate his show against the KXIP.

Both Chris Lynn and Dinesh Kartik fell cheaply last time, and the team will need them to bounce back and play a big knock on Wednesday.

Bowling

Key Players - Sunil Narine, Andre Russel & Kuldeep Yadav

Andre Russell was the pick of the lot last time, picking up two wickets for 32 runs and then transformed his bowling success into the batting by scoring 49 runs off just 19 deliveries and the all-rounder is likely to dominate the show against the KXIP. Other than him, Piyush Chawla was the only other bowler to claim a wicket was Piyush Chawla, who played a key role in breaking the crucial opening stand and get the KKR back into the screen. The bowler has done well in the past and if he can continue to attain few scalps in next games, it will be a certain plus for the team.

Meanwhile, their key strikers Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Lockie Ferguson were quite expensive against the SRH and they will be expected to rectify their show against Punjab.

Expected Playing XI

Dinesh Karthik (C & W), Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Chris Lynn, Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa.

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab (Source - iplt20.com)

The men from the lions den roared in the desert to begin their 2019 campaign on a positive note. Though their skipper Ravichandran Ashwin ignited a controversy after mankading Jos Buttler, which proved to be a match defining moment later on.

Batting

Key Players - Chris Gayle, KL Rahul & Sarfaraz Khan

Gayle has been in ominous form of late and continued his exceptional run in the campaign opener against Rajasthan Royals, and the Universal boss is coming off a blistering 79 run knock and will be eager to hit the big ones at the Eden Gardens. Sarfaraz Khan then continued the momentum and amassed 46 runs off 29 balls to get the team through to a commendable total and he will be expected to play a similar role against the Riders.

Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal showed some promising signs in his short 22 run innings, while last year top scorer KL Rahul went too cheaply and the skipper will expect strong contributions from these two.

Bowling

Key Players - Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammad Shami & Sam Curran

Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ankit Rajpoot all shared two scalps apiece, but Curran spent too many; 52 runs in the proceedings to finish with one of his career worst figures in terms of runs spent and he would love to improve that in the next game. While Mohammed Shami failed to claim any wicket, but used his experience to restrict the opponents during the death overs.

Expected Playing XI

Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot, Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran (W), Mandeep Singh and Sam Curran.

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