🏏 IPL 2025 ~ 21st Match: KKR vs LSG at Eden Gardens @3.30 PM🏏

🏏 IPL 2025 ~ 21st Match:

KKR vs LSG at Eden Gardens on 8th April, 3.30 PM IST 🏏

Kolkata Knight Riders are set to host Lucknow Super Giants at the iconic Eden Gardens in match No. 21 of the ongoing IPL 2025 on Tuesday, April 8.

The defending champions have had a topsy-turvy start to their campaign under new captain Ajinkya Rahane. They have two wins and as many losses under their belt after playing four games. While they suffered crushing defeats, their victories have been one-sided. In the last match, the Knights got the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad by 80 runs at home.

Lucknow also have two wins and two defeats from four matches so far in IPL 2025. They registered a thrilling 12-run win against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in their last game. Lucknow's new skipper, Rishabh Pant, is under the pump after failing with the bat in all four games. He would want to bounce back strongly on Tuesday against the Knights.

Eden Gardens Pitch Report

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Eden Gardens pitch. As per reports, the picturesque stadium has two different kinds of surfaces ready. One is a high-scoring pitch, which has been more common at the historic venue in recent years. On the other hand, the second surface will assist the spinners more. In the last game, KKR scored 200/6 before dismissing the Sunrisers for 120. There was a decent amount of swing for the pacers upfront. The spinners were getting assistance, but it was by no means a rank turner. It will be important for the captains to read the pitch correctly before the match and make plans accordingly.

The contest between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants offers a unique rivalry in the Indian Premier League - one between the fans of a football club [Mohun Bagan also owned by owners of LSG] and a cricket team. Last year, the franchise and the club expressed their displeasure over each other's efforts to claim turf at the Eden Gardens. This year, it shouldn't be any different.

Amidst chatter about the lack of crowd in one of India's most iconic stadiums, this contest on Tuesday presents an opportunity to test the weight of this passionate rivalry. But beyond the question of who brings the fans to the stadium is a bigger question: which of the two teams, scratchy and middling so far this season, will pick momentum and put themselves among the table toppers.

Despite the inconsistent performances so far, both teams find themselves in a position to move to the top-four by the end of Tuesday's contest. For that, they would need some of their most potent weapons to regain their prime touch, especially in the batting department.

While for KKR their biggest concern would be the lack of power-starts from their openers, which was a pivotal feature of their tournament-winning campaign last season, for LSG there are bigger concerns. Even as both Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock have one big innings to show, there is still more dependency than deliverance from them so far at the top.

For LSG, the concerns are bigger. Rishabh Pant, their captain, has struggled to find his touch. Pant, who aggregated 446 runs at 40.55 (SR: 155.40) with just one single-digit score last season, has scored only 19 runs at a strike-rate of 59.37 in three outings this season. And on a surface, where the ball is expected to hold on a bit, shot-making is not going to get any easier.

Either way, despite having won their respective previous games rather convincingly, both teams have largely been rusty and far from gaining the momentum they would like. There are ample areas to fine-tune on before heading into the middle phase of the league stage.

If there is one place where they would want to accelerate find these perfect performances coming, it would be in front of their 'home' fans!

Lucknow Super Giants:

Injuries/Unavailability: Mayank Yadav is ruled out of the contest as he is still recovering from his injury

Tactics & Matchups: KKR have four left-handers in their top-six, which could push LSG to hand a greater role with the ball to Aiden Markram.

Probable XII: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c/wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Injuries/Unavailability: Anrich Nortje, who was 'close to full fitness' till the previous game, was seen bowling in full tilt ahead of the last game. However, no information has been provided on his availability for the game against LSG.

Tactics & Matchups: Sunil Narine has been one of the few spinners who has managed to keep Nicholas Pooran in check. The mystery spinner has conceded only 171 runs off 150 balls in T20s against the southpaw, which includes a maiden Super Over. Expect a fair bit of bowling by Narine while Pooran is in the middle.

Probable XII: Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

Did you know:

Six of the last seven afternoon games played at Eden Gardens have been won by the chasing side.

KKR have the second worst average (15) and the second worst run rate (6.31) for the opening partnership in IPL this season. Only CSK have been worse than them on both parameters

LSG have picked most wickets in the powerplay so far this season, whereas KKR have picked just five wickets -the joint second least by a team

Big picture - Pooran vs KKR spinners

Only Rishabh Pant and Ravi Bishnoi are yet to hit their stride, but otherwise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are steadily assembling a winning formula in IPL 2025. Mitchell Marsh has notched up three fifties in four games, while Nicholas Pooran is the top run-getter of the season. When Pooran faltered against Mumbai Indians (MI) last Friday, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, and David Miller stepped up. The Indian seamers have been impressive, and Digvesh Rathi is already a contender for the tournament's emerging player.

LSG are at the right juncture to take off but their ability to handle spin, especially under the hot afternoon sun at Eden Gardens, could define the outcome against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Since IPL 2024, Markram has fallen to spin five times in 12 innings; Marsh's strike-rate plummets from 194 to 139 against spin and Pant averages just 15.4 against legspin.

Pooran is the exception. He has crossed 200 runs this season and has the best strike-rate (209) against spin since IPL 2024. But even he has struggled against Sunil Narine. That said, if Pooran and Miller can launch against KKR's spin attack, it could swing the game.

KKR, too, seem to be clicking into gear, especially after their impressive showing against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh adapted well on a sticky pitch, which might be a recurring feature at Eden Gardens this season. Ajinkya Rahane and youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi have offered consistency, but they'd want better starts from their openers and more time in the middle for Andre Russell.

Off the pitch, the clash also carries a unique flavour for Kolkata's football faithful. The last few seasons have witnessed plenty of Mohun Bagan fans from Kolkata shift allegiances to LSG for one day; the two teams are owned by the same group headquartered in the city.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Quinton de Kock smashed a 97* against Rajasthan Royals but he's scored in single digits in the other three games. It remains to be seen whether KKR would consider Rahmanullah Gurbaz in place of him. Even though Moeen did not bowl against SRH, he could retain his spot in place of Spencer Johnson, based on pitch conditions.

Likely XII (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Moeen Ali, 10 Harshit Rana, 11 Vaibhav Arora, 12 Varun Chakravarthy

Lucknow Super Giants

Mayank Yadav, who is bowling at "90-95% fitness" at the Centre for Excellence, is not yet available. They can use Markram as a third-spinner, but otherwise, left-arm spinners M Siddharth and Shahbaz Ahmed - who is also an allrounder - could be tempting options.

Likely XII (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Abdul Samad/Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Akash Deep, 11 Digvesh Rathi, 12 Ravi Bishnoi

The big question

Andre Russell has faced only 16 balls all season and scored ten runs. Given KKR's batting-heavy line-up, Russell has been batting down the order and is expected to start hitting as soon as he walks in. Even though he has hit his strides with the ball, are KKR underutilising one of their most expensive retentions by not giving him enough batting opportunities?