File photo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz.© BCCI
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders face four-time winners Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. While CSK will aim for a win to strengthen their hopes of sealing a play-off berth, KKR too will eye a victory and keep their outside chance alive. KKR will fancy their chances based on the presence of spinners, who have made an impact. How Varun Chakravarthy and leg-spinner Suyash Sharma bowl on Sunday could well decide the outcome of the match. The experienced Sunil Narine has been off-colour for a major part of the IPL season and will look to make amends.
Skipper Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer have been the better performers in the batting line-up and KKR would be expecting the openers to provide a solid start so that the rest can build on that.
However, it is easier said than done with Matheesha Pathirana expected to have a say in the proceedings with his mix of yorkers and slower ones. Jadeja could be one bowler the opposition batters would be wary of, as he hardly allows them time and is most often accurate.
The Knight Riders have to put behind the hammering at the hands of Rajasthan Royals on Thursday and approach Sunday’s fixture with a positive frame of mind. A loss on the morrow could hurt their chances of advancing in the tournament.
KKR might be thinking to drop Rahmanullah Gurbaz and give a chance to benched player Johnson Charles.
Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted XI vs Chennai Super Kings:
Jason Roy, Johnson Charles (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
(With PTI Inputs)
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