KKR v LSG: IPL MATCH 66 PREVIEW

LSG's one foot is in playoffs and today's win will seal their spot in top 2. Mentor Gambhir blasted the team for giving up and not fighting after they were all out on 82 while chasing 144 in the match against GT. They have now lost 2 back to back games by a considerable margin. These are not encouraging signs at the backend of the tournament as momentum plays a big role going into playoffs. LSG bat deep but they lack stable performers in the middle order and apart from Hooda everyone's lacked consistency. The openers have top scored 9 out of 13 times. On the bowling front, LSG have done a remarkable job in containing the opposition in middle overs. They have the best RR and Krunal Pandya has the 2nd best eco for a spinner after Sunil Narine. Left arm pacer Mohsin Khan is one of the finds of the season and has the best eco for a pacer who has bowled min 100 balls.

They say IPL is won at auction tables. For the 2nd consecutive time KKR have made a big mess in the mega auctions. To add salt to injury, Alex Hales pulled out of the tournament. KKR could have signed a good replacement in Paul Stirling but they decided to bring in Aaron Finch who is struggling to put bat onto the ball in last 2 years. KKR's opening combination is a mess, they are trying a new pair in every new game. As a result, their 2 big guns Russell and Narine have to carry the entire team instead of KKR supporting them with good players. Their hopes of qualification are almost over even if they win the remaining last game and it would require a big miracle and an insane amount of bottling by the other teams for KKR to get through. KKR have lost the most wkts in PP and middle overs.

Probable XI

Kolkata Knight Riders

Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarty

Lucknow Super Giants

KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi

Venue

Dr DY Patil Stadium

KKR: Played 5, Won 3, Lost 2
LSG: Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1

-Average Total batting 1st: 158.3
-Average Total batting 1st: (In 2022: 168.6)
-Avearge 1st innings winning total: 174.3

-Highest total: 216/4- CSK vs RCB, 2022

-Total Match Played: 36
-Batting First Won: 16
-Batting Second Won: 20

Form Update

(last 5 innings)

Match Ups

KL v Narine: 131/2 at 182 sr
KL v Southee: 116/2 at 128 sr
KL v Umesh: 60/1 at 122 sr

QDK v Russell: 127/4 at 195 sr
QDK v Umesh: 49/1 at 140 sr

Rana v Stoinis: 68/2 at 147 sr
Hooda v Narine: 29/2 at 111 sr
Krunal v Narine: 29/2 at 93 sr
Stoinis v Russell: 15/3

Key players & Fanatsy Picks

Captain/Vice Captain

Andre Russell: The 2 time MVP of the IPL was quiet with the bat in the past 2 seasons but he displayed a scintillating show of power hitting against PBKS and yet again proved why he is one of the most dangerous players in t20 cricket. He scored 49 in the game against SRH, 40 odd vs GT and another 40+ score against LSG and is also contributing with the ball by taking atleast 1/2 wkts in every game. So far he has taken 17 wkts and is striking at 182 with 330 runs. He is second on the list of MVP of the tournament.

KL Rahul: 3017 runs at a SR of 140. No one has scored more runs than him since 2018. KL has put consistent 500+ runs seasons for 4 times in a row and is on his way to reach the 500 runs mark for the 5th time in a row. He is the 2nd highest run scorer of the season with 468 runs at 42.6 avg and 135 sr with 2 100s.

Deepak Hooda: He is the 3rd highest Indian run scorer in this tournamnet and has the most runs for an Indian middle order batter with 4 50+ scores.

Budget Pick:
(Fantasy rating: 8.5)

Sunil Narine: 0/15, 1/12, 1/23, 0/26, 2/21, 0/23, 2/21, 0/31, 1/19, 0/19, 1/20, 0/21, 1/34 are his spells in the 13 games so far with a dot % of 43 and an economy of 5.5

Wild Card

Mohsin Khan: He has the best eco for a seamer in this season (6.1) and just like Bumrah and Umran he could run through KKR's lineup as their batting order is susceptible against pace & bounce

Prediction: Winners - LSG

Fantasy XI