IPL 2019, KKR v KXIP: 5 key battles to watch out for
The KKR vs KXIP rivalry will be reprised in IPL 2019 as the two teams will lock horns at Eden Gardens for their second match of the tournament. Each of them would be looking to build on the winning momentum early in the tournament.
Kolkata Knight Riders' expected playing XI:
Unless there is a injury concern around Sunil Narine, KKR should look to play the same team:
Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna.
Kings XI Punjab expected playing XI:
Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicolas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot.
Here is a look at the key battles that could determine the result of the match:
1. Chris Gayle vs Kuldeep Yadav
Chris Gayle has had a rocking start to the IPL and would look to continue his good form. He will face a tough challenge from Kuldeep Yadav, who would love to take out Gayle with his variations.
2. Chris Gayle vs Sunil Narine
A Caribbean battle to watch out for is the one between Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle. They have been wonderful in their IPL careers so far and are the key players for their teams.
As Gayle is a slow starter in his innings, KKR would look to stifle him with the spin duo of Narine and Yadav.
3. Andre Russell vs Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Another battle between a big hitter and a spinner to watch out for is this one. Mujeeb bowls well at pretty much every juncture of the match, and would be Punjab's trump card against Russell.
4. Chris Lynn vs Ravichandran Ashwin
Chris Lynn is one of the cleanest strikers of ball but hasn't been great form of late as he has been out of the Australian limited overs squad for a long time. He also did not have a good opening match against SRH.
Lynn generally does not fare well against spin and was dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan in the opening match. Ashwin would look to exploit this weakness and take his wicket early.
5. KL Rahul vs Lockie Ferguson
Everyone knows about Rahul's early weakness against fast bowling in recent times. He did not have a good time in SENA countries recently and was constantly troubled by the swinging deliveries outside the off stump.
Lockie Ferguson would look to exploit this weakness as he can consistently clock speeds of 145-150 km/hr.