🏏IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans, 39th Match 🏏 - Page 2

The Titans have been on a successful run this season so far and have won five out of seven games. They have won their previous two encounters and defeated Mumbai Indians in their previous outing. Against MI, the Titans made 207 runs for the loss of six wickets. Shubman Gill scored another half-century for the Titans. David Miller and Abhinav Manohar played crucial knocks for the defending champions. In reply, MI managed just 152 runs for the loss of nine wickets and lost the game by 55 runs. Noor Ahmad picked up three wickets for 37 runs in four overs and was the most successful bowler for the team.

Gujarat Titans have won 5 of their 7 games this season so far, and are placed second on the points table with 10 points to their tally and a net run rate of +0.580. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have won 3 of their 8 games so far, and are placed seventh on the points table, with 6 points to their tally and a net run rate of -0.027.

These two teams have met thrice in the history of IPL so far, where Kolkata Knight Riders won 2 games. The last time these two sides met, Rinku Singh pulled off a stunning win for Kolkata by smashing 5 sixes in the final over. Another thrilling encounter is anticipated here between these two teams!

The surface of Eden Gardens is known for its batting-friendly pitch and has been producing high-scoring games consistently. The size of the stadium is pretty small and that allows the batters to take risks.

Although it provides huge support to the batters during the major portion of the game, during the later stages, it also assists the bowlers, especially spinners.

The Eden Gardens is a moderate size stadium and holds about 65 to 67 meters boundary size on the square, while around 69 to 71 meters on the straight side from the crease.

Gujarat Titans are riding high and they can go back to the top of the table with a victory in today's afternoon match. They've ticked a number of boxes right, be it Hardik Pandya's captaincy, the batting order and the discipline of the bowlers. They've found heroes in every match, right from number 1 to 11, and they've won matches from lost positions. Are they favourites to defend their title? Too early to say, but things are moving in the right direction for the Ahmedabad based franchise. Today, they're up against the Knight Riders, who snapped a 4-match losing run against the Royal Challengers. Spin has been their biggest strength and they used it effectively at the Chinnaswamy, but they're up against a unit that has played the slow bowlers well. It could well be a tactical game on display this afternoon

KKR and GT top the charts currently for most wickets among wrist spinners in this IPL and the clash at the Eden Gardens will be a battle of one-upmanship between the spinners of both sides. That said, GT's pacers have also done a good job of chipping away at the opposition wickets, with the Indian duo of Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma having bagged 16 wickets between them. While Alzarri Joseph has also been amongst the wickets, Noor Ahmad's recent success has kept the West Indian pacer out of action in the last few games.

In contrast, KKR's overseas duo of Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson proved to be very expensive in the opportunities they got, forcing the Knight Riders to look for pace options beyond them. With Umesh Yadav struggling to make an impact and Shardul Thakur recovering from an injury, KKR have been severely short-staffed in the pace department, with only Andre Russell providing them some solace. On the other hand, Varun Chakaravarthy and Suyash Sharma, with 22 wickets between them, have carried most of the bowling workload and were key in some of their victories, including the one against RCB.

The arrival of Jason Roy has provided the Knight Riders' batting department a shot in the arm, with the England batter fresh off a brisk half-century against RCB. Although KKR have used six different opening combinations so far, Roy's 83-run partnership with N Jagadeesan in the previous game - KKR's only half-century opening stand in the IPL 2023 thus far - will have finally pointed the team management to the right choice at the top of the order. The likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Rinku have been contributing but KKR will hope for some runs from Russell's bat.

Players with good performances--

Rashid Khan is a right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break bowler from Gujarat Titans. He picked up 3 wickets in the last game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mohammad Shami is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium fast bowler from Gujarat Titans. He took 1 wicket in the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Andre Russell is a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored only 1 run in the last game but can score big in the upcoming game.

Sunil Narine is a left-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders. He picked up 3 wickets in the last match against Gujarat Titans.

Mohit Sharma is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pacer from Gujarat Titans.

Suyash Sharma is a right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders.

It is match 39 and we are back at the Eden Gardens, where the Kolkata Knight Riders have won only once this season. They will, however, take heart from the fact that they're facing the Gujarat Titans today, one of only two teams they have beaten this campaign.

The last time these two sides met, Rinku Singh produced a last-over heist for the ages, smashing Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes and sealing the deal for KKR. Both outfits have traversed slightly contrasting trajectories since, with KKR winning just once and GT consolidating their spot in the top four.

KKR, because of their win against RCB a few days ago, might not have entered last-chance saloon yet, although the margin for error for them remains minimal. As for Gujarat, they have an opportunity to climb back to the top of the table and fire another warning shot that they are just as dangerous as they were in their debut title-winning season.

Originally posted by: Viswasruti

Gujarat Titans have won 5 of their 7 games this season so far, and are placed second on the points table with 10 points to their tally and a net run rate of +0.580. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have won 3 of their 8 games so far, and are placed seventh on the points table, with 6 points to their tally and a net run rate of -0.027.

These two teams have met thrice in the history of IPL so far, where Kolkata Knight Riders won 2 games. The last time these two sides met, Rinku Singh pulled off a stunning win for Kolkata by smashing 5 sixes in the final over. Another thrilling encounter is anticipated here between these two teams!

Why is Nitish looking at Rashid and not coin😕

Originally posted by: Viswasruti

Players with good performances--

Rashid Khan is a right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break bowler from Gujarat Titans. He picked up 3 wickets in the last game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mohammad Shami is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium fast bowler from Gujarat Titans. He took 1 wicket in the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Andre Russell is a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored only 1 run in the last game but can score big in the upcoming game.

Sunil Narine is a left-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders. He picked up 3 wickets in the last match against Gujarat Titans.

Mohit Sharma is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pacer from Gujarat Titans.

Suyash Sharma is a right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders.

Suyash ko kabhi batting nahin denge, to woh kis hand se batting karta hai ye jaankar kise kya karna hai🤔

Pitch report

We're playing on pitch number 6. Almost identical square boundaries at 63 and 64m, the straight boundary is a bit longer at 74m and the pockets at 70m. The surface looks superb, there is a bit of rough and a bit of breeze blowing acrss, but it's a good batting surface once again', reckon Daren Ganga and Matthew Hayden, in their pitch report