IPL: KKR face upbeat CSK with eye on snapping three-game losing run

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be desperate to snap their three-game losing run in IPL 2023 when they take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

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Since their emphatic three-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on 9 April, in which Rinku Singh pulled off the near impossible, KKR have suffered defeats against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC).

While they fell short in a chase of 229 against SRH at home, the defeats against MI and DC came on the road with the two-time champions having slipped to the eighth spot on the IPL 2023 points table with four defeats in six games.

CSK, meanwhile, have bounced back rather solidly since losing the tournament opener against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on 31 March, winning four out of their next five matches with the MS Dhoni-led side winning each of their last two encounters to sit at the third spot with eight points.

While the bowling unit did well to take the game deep against Delhi on Thursday, it is the opening combination that has become something of a headache for the Knight Riders in recent games. The Nitish Rana-led side decided to open with Jason Roy and Litton Das in place of Narayan Jagadeesan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz; Roy wasn’t at his explosive best in his 39-ball 43 while Das, who also spilled a few chances as keeper, was dismissed for a run-a-ball 4.

While Roy and Das will be getting a couple of more chances at the very least, the team management will hope they’re able to give Kolkata the ideal start that they’ve been lacking in recent games, which should reduce some of the pressure on Venkatesh Iyer, Rana and Rinku down the order.

Eden Gardens, meanwhile, has proven ideal for batters in recent games and the explosive Chennai batting lineup, especially opener Devon Conway who has been in red-hot form with three consecutive half-centuries, will be licking their lips at the prospect of tonking the ball all over the park.

Head-to-head:

KKR and CSK have squared off a total of 27 time in the IPL with Chennai leading 17-9 on head-to-head count. Two of those 27 matches have come in the final; while Kolkata won their maiden title under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership in 2012, Dhoni would lead Chennai to their fourth title in 2021 against a Kolkata side led by Eoin Morgan.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Litton Das(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana(c), Mandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anukul Roy, Tim Southee, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, N Jagadeesan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Aarya Desai

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Ambati Rayudu, Dwaine Pretorius, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, RS Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu

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