Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s survival strategy is simple: win all the remaining games. If they do so, they will end up with 17 points, which would be one and two lower than the maximum Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI), who are right above KKR on the table, can manage. When put like this, the path forward seems as straight as it gets. Especially when their next two games will be against the teams already disqualified. But it isn’t as simple, Kolkata know this too.
All of their plans could be done and dusted with a single defeat or even something as out of their hands as rain washing out any of their remaining games. Their home record isn’t too great either, having won only 2 of their six games at Eden Gardens, and they will have to face CSK at home as well, so if they don’t stand firmly against home woes their campaign could be over before they can start working out their survival chances.
But whatever happens, one thing can be said with certitude: all contenders will need to fight it out till the last match to stay in the top four.
CSK do not have any things to worry about, not for the remaining year at least. They are already out of the tournament and their best bet for face-saving is to get over their bottom-placed position, which they seemed to have made their permanent home.
Team Overview:
While Rahmanullah Gurbaz hasn’t really provided longevity to KKR’s batting lineup, his quickfire innings at the start have given the lower-order batters something to work with. The last time Sunil Narine crossed the 20-run mark this season was against CSK, when he smashed a 244-strike rate 44 knock. 44 is also the figure that KKR’s best batter so far, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, managed to score in the last two innings, falling so closely short of a half-century.
But the good thing for KKR is that he already has a half-century at Eden Gardens this season. There are some concerns regarding the mundane contributions from the middle order. Ajinkya Rahane looked good early in the season but seems to have lost his mojo. Venkatesh Iyer has had a below-average season this time and is now battling some injury concerns too, which make him a doubtful starter against Chennai. This could see KKR getting Andre Russell to bat higher as he did against Rajasthan. Even if Iyer is fit for the game, KKR might stick with having Russell up the order, where he seemed the most at home in the previous game.
KKR bowlers might not seem home even at their home, though. They average nearly double at home than they do on the road (37.60 in home games vs 18.5 in away games). This is also why they have conceded the second-most runs at home.
Although the CSK think tank hinted at trying different players to get a clearer picture of how they want the team to look like in the next season, they went with the same team in the last game. In all fairness, the team did give Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) almost a heart attack with a 2-run loss, which could have gone any way. Ayush Mhatre was within an arm’s length of his century before he slogged a Lungi Ngidi slower ball. They might look to replace the new-in Urvil Patel with Shaik Rasheed to give Mhatre the sort of support he needs.
Head-to-Head Matches:
CSK have won 20 out of 32 matches they clashed with KKR in, leaving the remaining 12 wins to be grabbed by Kolkata.
Weather and Pitch Report:
Teams have scored over 10 runs per over in seven innings this season at Eden Gardens. The venue slots in at No. 3 among the highest-scoring venues this year (min. 3 matches). So, a run-fest is definitely on the cards. In the last game against RR, the deck was hard with enough true bounce to give batters their desired conditions for stroke-making.
Prediction:
KKR have everything on the line including their survival and defense campaign, so they will make sure they do not go down without a fight.
Where to Watch:
India: Star Sports Network, JioHotstar
UK: Sky Sports, SkyGo
USA: Willow TV
Australia: Kayo TV, Foxtel Go
Bangladesh: T Sports, Toffee app
New Zealand: Sky Sports NZ
Afghanistan: ATN
South Africa: SuperSport
Sri Lanka: Dialog
MENA: Cricbuzz
