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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will square off against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 68th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday (May 20). Notably, this would be the first time the two teams will meet in the IPL 2023.
Speaking about the previous matches of both teams, KKR defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their last game. Among bowlers, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine picked up two wickets each for their side in the first innings. Although Nitish Rana (57) was the top-scorer for the Kolkata-based side, Rinku Singh stole the show with his quickfire 54 and played a significant role in KKR’s win over CSK.
On the other hand, LSG defeated the five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in the last ball thriller. Marcus Stoinis was the hero with the bat as he scored valuable 89 runs on a tough surface and took the LSG’s score to the respectable total of 177.
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan provided a solid start to MI and scored 62 runs in 6 overs by taking full advantage of the six overs of powerplay. But leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi dismissed them in his first two overs. After the departure of their openers, Mumbai never came back into the game. For LSG, Mohsin Khan bowled a superb last over and defended 10 runs to seal the match.
KKR are currently placed at the seventh position in the IPL 2023 points table and would look to break into the top five when they face Lucknow on Saturday. On the other hand, LSG stands at the third place and will eye second position by registering a win over Kolkata.
Pitch report:
The track at Eden Gardens has always favoured the batters. However, it assists the spinners as the game progresses. A high-scoring match is expected to take place at the venue. Team winning the toss shall look to bowl first because of the dew-factor.
Probable XIs:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy
Lucknow Super Giants: Krunal Pandya (c), Kyle Mayers, Quinton de Kock (wk), P Mankad, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Ravi Bishnoi, Yudhvir Singh, Avesh Khan, Amit Mishra
Head-to-head record
Played: 2 | KKR won: 0 |LSG won: 2 | No result: 0
Match Prediction:
Case 1:
- KKR wins the toss and bowls first
- Powerplay score: 45-50
- LSG total: 185-195
Case 2:
- LSG wins the toss and bowls first
- Powerplay score: 40-45
- KKR total: 170-175
Team bowling first to win the contest.
