Knights take on Superkings in their final home match

It’s one last time for the Eden crowd this season. As the Knights gear up for the Chennai game, one wonders whether Eden will witness another full-house in their last game of the season which has shown hopes of KKR emerging as title-winners. The momentum is, however, with Dhoni’s men as they are coming off 2 back-to-back wins, in contrary to KKR who have lost their last match against Mumbai after seven victories on a row.

Chennai had brushed aside table-toppers Delhi in a way that may make KKR nervous. After a series of disappointments in the middle of their campaign, Chennai have revived their hopes with two great wins in the last two matches. On the other hand, KKR are looking comfortable for a top two finish and only some really poor work will see them miss the play-offs. So lots are at stake for the teams when they clash today at the Eden Gardens.

Head-to-head

Chennai have outplayed KKR five times out of eight while KKR have been lucky thrice.

Played – 8; CSK – 5; KKR – 3

Players to look out for

Kolkata Knight Riders

Gautam Gambhir : One bad day at office doesn’t make him a bad batsman, neither does it make him lose his brilliant form. He has been leading by example and has lot more work to do to see KKR in the play-offs and he has realised that the job is only half-done!

Sunil Narine : Even when the other bowlers had a bad day, Narine was the one difficult to pick. Despite the fact that his figures got disrupted when he came on the receiving end of Gibbs’ fury, the truth remains that the batsmen still haven’t been able to completely solve his mystery.

Jacques Kallis : He is in decent touch and anchored the KKR innings in their last game even though he couldn’t see them through. KKR needs him to provide solidity in the middle order if their best batsman, Gambhir gets dismissed early.

Chennai Superkings

Ben Hilfenhaus : He was the Man of the Match in their last match. The wrecker-in-chief in India’s tour Down Under has shown that not only can he swing the ball, but he can make life tough for a batsman with his increasing variations. Let’s see what he can do against Gambhir and Co.

Albie Morkel : He has been costly when economy rates are concerned, but he came out on a different mood in the last game picking up 1/15 off his 4 overs against the Delhi batsmen. KKR will have reasons to worry about if this man again does a similar job for his team today.

Ravindra Jadeja : He is the leading wicket-taker for Chennai with 10 scalps from 29 overs. He hasn’t been that good with the bat but if he decides to do it big, then KKR may well be gone for good. His captain has lots of faith in him and it remains to be seen whether he can do justice to Dhoni’s faith.

Prediction

The momentum is with Chennai and that is what keeps them a step ahead of KKR. Also CSK have a dominating record against the Kolkata-based franchisee which may play on the players’ heads.