KKR fight to stay alive as GT eye top-two finish
GT will hope to continue their win streak while KKR will hope to stay alive
Kolkata: Back home after nearly a month on the road and with their campaign hanging by a thread, Kolkata Knight Riders will look to stay alive in the IPL when they face a rampaging Gujarat Titans side chasing a top-two finish, here on Saturday.
It has been another inconsistent and underwhelming season for KKR under veteran Ajinkya Rahane, whose appointment as captain itself had raised questions after the franchise finished a disappointing eighth under him last year.
KKR had to wait till their seventh match (halfway stage) of the season to register their first win and have looked far from a settled side throughout the campaign, with questionable team selections and batting-order hurting their rhythm.
Their brief revival, which brought four consecutive wins starting with the victory over Rajasthan Royals in their last home match on April 19, ended with a defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru after sloppy fielding and a batting masterclass by Virat Kohli.
KKR now have three matches remaining and can reach a maximum of 15 points if they win all of them, but even that may not guarantee a playoff berth as qualification would then depend on other results.
Another defeat, however, would virtually end their campaign and could also intensify scrutiny on Rahane’s future with the franchise.
Their four-match winning run was built largely around the return to form of spin twins Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, along with consistent contributions from vice-captain Rinku Singh.
But Chakravarthy’s absence against RCB because of a fractured left leg proved costly.
Varun comeback
There is some relief for KKR though, with head coach Abhishek Nayar hinting at the spinner’s return.
“We’re always excited to go back (home). We have our fans there, and we’re looking to make sure when Varun comes back in the next game, we get our strong bowling side back together and use home conditions to our advantage,” Nayar had said after the six-wicket defeat to RCB.
KKR’s batting has lacked consistency all season and even former captain Sourav Ganguly publicly questioned the team management’s handling of Rinku, saying at an event that the left-hander bats “too low”.
Youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been one of the few bright spots with 340 runs, including four fifties, at a strike rate of 139.44, while Rinku has scored 286 runs at 148.95 with two half-centuries.
The duo will have key roles to play in KKR’s remaining home fixtures against Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.
In contrast, the Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans have looked like one of the most complete teams this season, winning five matches in a row to draw level on points with table-toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
GT’s surge has been driven largely by a bowling attack that has clicked at the right time.
Kagiso Rabada has produced two Player-of-the-Match performances during the streak, Jason Holder has earned two awards himself, while Rashid Khan appears to have rediscovered his old magic.
Their bowling has blended perfectly with a strong top-order led by Gill and Sai Sudharsan.
Sudharsan has once again been among the most prolific batters of the season. After winning the Orange Cap last year with 759 runs, the left-hander has already amassed 501 runs this season and trails current leader Heinrich Klaasen by just seven runs. He has struck five fifties in his last six innings, including a century.
Gill, too, has looked in sublime touch, while Washington Sundar has quietly anchored the middle-order effectively.
GT also hope England star Jos Buttler rediscovers his rhythm after a relatively quiet season by his standards.
With league matches against KKR and Chennai Super Kings remaining, Gujarat Titans will be keen to seal a top-two finish and secure the safety net that comes with it in the playoffs.
Eden Gardens has offered assistance to bowlers this season and KKR’s hopes could rest heavily on Narine, Chakravarthy and Green making early breakthroughs against GT’s formidable top order.
Teams :
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Rahul Tripathi, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Singh, Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Cameron Green, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Matheesha Pathirana, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Deep, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prashant Solanki.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Anuj Rawat, Arshad Khan, Ashok Sharma, Jos Buttler, Connor Esterhuizen, Gurnoor Brar, Jason Holder, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kumar Kushagra, Mohammed Siraj, Glenn Phillips, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Ishant Sharma, Nishant Sindhu, Manav Suthar, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Luke Wood, Jayant Yadav.
