IPL 2016, KKR vs RPS Match 45 Preview: The Supergiants play for pride as they face the Kolkata Knight Riders
The Rising Pune Supergiants will not be able to make it to the playoffs in this season as they lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous match by 4 runs. This will be the first time in the Indian Premier League where M S Dhoni will not take part in the playoffs. The Rising Pune Supergiants have played with good matches this season and will consider themselves unfortunate to miss out on a place in the playoffs.
The Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, are very much in the race of entering the playoffs, they cannot afford to relax as they still have to win at least 2 games to confirm their spot. The Knight Riders have 4 games in hand and they would be happy to win those 2 games as soon as possible, giving them some time to strategise for the playoffs.
The Match 45 of VIVO IPL 2016 will take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The last game the Knight Riders played at the Eden Gardens, they were beaten by the Gujarat Lions and they would be hoping to avoid that sort of a result against the Rising Pune Supergiants.
Match Date and Time: 14 May 2016, 2000 hours IST.
Match Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Weather:
Temperature: Max 33°C, Min 30°C
Humidity: Max 76%
Wind: 13 km per hour
Pitch Report: Par-score 170. This wicket has been a good hunting ground for the spin bowlers.
In-Depth Analysis:
The Rising Pune Supergiants have failed to defend targets of over 190 and they have also failed to achieve targets below 140. Such has been the state of the Supergiants season and they cannot blame anyone but themselves for not closing tight matches. They have lost control from winning positions on a number of occasions which has cost them dearly in their debut campaign.
Ajinkya Rahane has been the best batsman for the Supergiants in this season and he has represented the only form of consistency in their team. Rahane has scored 417 runs in 11 innings and he has more than proved his worth in the T20 format. The Australian Usman Khawaja proved his mettle in the recent T20 world Cup and his partnership with Rahane can give the Supergiants the start they require.
There has been speculation about the absence of Irfan Pathan from the main squad and Dhoni has offered no explanation for that, but the fans must realize that MSD is known for backing his players and in this case he has stuck to Saurabh Tiwary and Rajat Bhatia who have been performing well for the team. MSD himself has been in a decent touch with the bat, scoring 212 runs in 11 innings at a strike-rate of 135.
Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa recorded the best bowling performance for this season, picking up 6 wickets for just 19 runs in his 4 overs in the last game. His services will be valuable the team and MSD will use his 4 overs wisely against the Knight Riders.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have been performing exceptionally with the bat and the ball in this season. Gautham Gambhir has captained his side cleverly by giving Andre Russell the new ball. Russell has picked up 14 wickets in 10 games and is certainly a contender for winning the purple cap this season.
The Knight Riders will be happy to see Yusuf Pathan back to his lethal best and whacking the cricket ball like he used to when he was a part of the Rajasthan Royals. The Knight Riders had a minor collapse in their previous match when they lost 4 wickets for just 24 runs but they recovered brilliantly due to the responsible knocks of Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan. The Knight Riders have got depth in the batting department which will prove to be an advantage against the Supergiants.
The Rising Pune Supergiants have got nothing to lose and they will be playing a bit more freely against the Knight Riders. The odds might just favor the Supergiants in this game.