The last day of single match Indian Premier League action before four successive double headers takes place on Thursday and for the two sides in action it is a very big match when the Kolkata Knight Riders host the Kings XI Punjab.
This is the first visit to Eden Gardens for the season so not only do we have a high profile match but we have it at arguably the most iconic venue in India so this is nicely set up for an exciting day of cricket.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The former champions have made an indifferent beginning to the season. They thrashed the Gujarat Lions in their first match of the tournament while in their second match they were well beaten by the Mumbai Indians so they will be looking to make full use of home advantage both in this match and the rest of the tournament.
Kolkata have shown in both of their matches that they have plenty in their batting armoury but when it comes to the ball they don’t look as strong as in previous seasons and there is talk of the newly laid track at Eden Gardens not suiting spinners which would be a disadvantage for them now.
Kings XI Punjab
If you had told even the biggest Kings XI Punjab fan that they would be played two and won two when the season began I would imagine they would have signed for it and not bothered about playing the matches but they have surprised many in their matches thus far and they could be the first team to reach three wins should they prevail here.
The success of the Kings XI side has been the quality they have shown with the new ball. That was the one doubt going into the tournament because their batting line up contained all the firepower any team would need, as we have seen at the end of both their batting innings thus far. The only doubt about them now is in the death overs with the ball.
Team News
Kolkata suffered a massive blow in the previous match when Chris Lynn’s shoulder twanged again and he is out for the foreseeable future. That is likely to mean Shakib-al-Hasan will come back into the side. Umesh Yadav is expected to be fit to feature.
Kings XI Punjab may well go in with an unchanged side after a comprehensive win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore last time out. If they do make any changes it could be that Marcus Stoinis makes way for either a specialist bowler or batsman.
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Betting
Heading into the season most people would have thought this would be a home banker but I was quite down on Kolkata Knight Riders and their chances before a ball was bowled in the event and nothing I’ve seen thus far has told me I was wrong on that count.
I must admit I didn’t have the Kings XI Punjab down to be as strong as they have been although we should temper that with the fact they’ve been two poor sides thus far. That said they have taken wickets with the new ball and are yet to thoroughly test their entire batting line up so if they can sort out their death overs when bowling there could be plenty more to come from them.
The death overs could be important here but neither have shown much with the ball in them and I suspect Glenn Maxwell and David Miller could tuck in more than the respective players for the Knight Riders. With that in mind I’m going to follow the form and back the Punjab outfit here.
Chris Lynn’s injury has allowed the chance to have a look at the top Kolkata Knight Riders batsman market and with the Kings XI being close to useless at the death so far it could be that a late charge from someone down the order provides the goods. Suryakumar Yadav is a handy lower order batsman who could even bat up at four if Kolkata choose. He hits a long ball at the end of an innings so his chances of top scoring would be much greater than 12/1 if he’s there batting anywhere near the final five overs.
Tips
Back Kings XI Punjab for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bwin
Back them here:
Back S.Yadav Top Kolkata Knight Riders Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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