IPL 2018: Match 44, Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Toss Report

Kings XI Punjab won the toss and decided to field first against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 44th match of the Indian Premier League 2018 at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore.

Here is what the captains said:

Ravichandran Ashwin

“We’ll bowl first. It’s a small ground and difficult to defend, so we’ll try to chase it down. It’s a day game and it’s dried up a bit. Previous games were sticky but this one is expected to stay the same. We are sticking to our old combination. We have brought Agarwal in for Nath, Finch for Stoinis.”

Dinesh Karthik

“One team has to bat first. We’ll try to make the most of the opportunity. Just one change for us, Searles comes in for Curran. We are sticking to the same team as am someone who believes to stick to one team and believe in the boys. So are sticking to the same XI with just one change.”

Preview

Kings XI Punjab have not been so consistent in the recent games. They are riding high on their initial success but a loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at Indore, could jeopardize their campaign.

Both KL Rahul and Chris Gayle have been instrumental to the success of KXIP so far this season. However, despite their fragile bowling, the most worrying factor for the team is the lack of form in middle order. The team management have did many changes in recent games and gave chances to many players.

But they are yet to find the right balance in their middle order. Mujeeb Rahman is growing in confidence with the ball and others are chipping in quite effectively. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders are facing problems of their own.

Despite a decent campaign so far, they have failed to win key moments in games which they lost. Ultimately after their big loss against Mumbai Indians, the team will now need to regroup and win all their remaining games to stand a chance for play off spots.

The batting is firing well but not all the batsmen are getting into the form in unison. This has been their major problem so far. Despite being packed with power hitters and match winners, Kolkata Knight Riders could not get their act together. But they will need to find a way past Kings XI Punjab on Saturday if they want to have a realistic chance of qualifying for play offs.

Playing XIs

Kings XI Punjab:

Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul(w), Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Karun Nair, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Andre Russell, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav