Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings : KOLKATA IN TROUBLE? || Indian Super League 2021 Match 15
Indian Super League 2021 Match 15
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings – April 21st
Kolkata Knight Riders:
It hasn’t been the greatest of starts for Eoin Morgan and the team. They did record a win in their season starter against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as their top order set up the match with a total of 187 and the bowlers joined together to limited SRH to 177.
But since then, the batting has writhed. They flopped to chase down 153 against Mumbai Indians (MI) and dropped 10 runs short in spite of being 122/4 at the end of 15 overs in that run-chase. In their third match, they were outplayed. Royal Challengers Bangalore tormented up 204 and it was always going to be a big score to chase down. Ultimately KKR lost by 38 runs.
The power-crammed middle-order hasn’t got going so far but they will relish the conditions in Mumbai where the ball comes on a lot nicer. Thus, that middle-order will be decisive.
Possible playing XI: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Shakib Al Hasan/Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan (c), Kamlesh Nagarkoti/Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.
Chennai Super Kings:
On the contrary, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have made a wonderful response after losing that first match against Delhi Capitals. The batsmen haven’t got large scores, but the batting deepness has bailed them out and has aided them to get to 180+ totals batting first.
The bowling which appeared ineffective in the first game has accomplished bounce back well and have made a couple of solid performances. CSK don’t have a lot of concern about it. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s form may be a concern, but CSK will back him and Dhoni doesn’t like cutting and altering too much anyway.
Possible playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Deepak Chahar.
The venue, Pitch Report, and Toss Prediction:
A high-scoring match is on the cards, despite the typical first innings score at Wankhede in IPL 2021 is 158. Although the speedsters have got some seam movement off the wicket, the ball should slide nicely onto the bat, with the batters expected to target the powerplay overs.
As witnessed in the prior IPL 2021 matches, there is some spin available as well, which could make for an even competition between the bat and the ball in the middle overs.
With dew anticipated to play a part in the second innings, both sides will want to chase upon securing the toss. 170-180 should be a decent total at the venue.
Tops Value:
The Super Kings are the clear favourites before the game and precisely so. With a better interpretation of the wicket in Mumbai, combined with their momentum, CSK will like a victory over Kolkata. Nevertheless, the Knight Riders will be eager to return to winning ways and given their fondness for firecrackers, a shift of base from Chennai to Mumbai could work marvels for them.
Having said all of that, the bookkeepers have still rated both the teams at 1.90. Thus, with two precious points up for grabs, we should be in for an actioner at the Wankhede on Wednesday.
