Kolkata Knight Riders host Lucknow Super Giants in a crucial battle for survival in IPL 2023

On the penultimate day of the group stages of IPL 2023, setting the tone for the upcoming double-header on Sunday, two sides with varying fortunes will go head to head Saturday evening blockbuster. Kolkata Knight Riders, who are currently in the seventh place of the points table with six wins and seven losses will be squaring off against the Lucknow Super Giants, who have clinched seven wins, apart from registering one point due to a washed-out match.

Lucknow Super Giants will be arriving into this fixture on the back of a thrilling win against Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring affair. Leading the show for the Super Giants, Marcus Stoinis carved an impeccable 89 from just 47 balls and was accompanied by skipped Krunal Pandya that helped the Giants tot up 177. It was Ravi Bishnoi’s frugal spell of 2/26 that got the job done for the hosts at Ekana Sports City as Mumbai stuttered in those dying embers.

Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off the unthinkable as they breezed past the Chennai Super Kings after a phenomenal show from their bowlers in the first half. Sunil Narine produced what’s been a rare masterclass this season, claiming a couple of wickets for just 15 runs while Varun Chakravarthy’s wicket haul continued. Albeit an early scare, it was captain Nitish Rana who would seize the fate of the tie with an impeccable unbeaten 57 while Rinku Singh powered his way to another half-century to help KKR pocket another crucial victory.

A win for LSG will secure their play-off berth as they would move to 17 points while KKR can get as far as 14 even if they go on to clinch a victory. With a net run rate of -0.256, the Knights will have to produce a dominating win in order to remain afloat in the hunt for the play-offs.

Head to head:

Matches played: 2

KKR: 0

LSG: 2

Match Details:

Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants

Venue: Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata

Date: 20th May, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Nitish Rana (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Jason Roy.

Lucknow Super Giants:

Krunal Pandya (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Manan Vohra, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karan Sharma, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra, Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Romario Shepherd, Naveen-ul-Haq, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yudhvir Singh, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav, Swapnil Singh.