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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2016, Match 32 at Kolkata: Yusuf Pathan vs Akshar Patel and other key battles

Given Yusuf Pathan likes bludgeoning the spinners, his battle against Akshar Patel is sure to keep the IPL fans on the edge of their seats.

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Yusuf Pathan  plundered unbeaten 60 off just 29 balls against RCB © AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will square off with Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Match 32 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 at Kolkata’s Eden Garden. In the previous battle between these two teams, KKR edged past KXIP by 6 wickets, thanks to Robin Uthappa’s blistering 28-ball 53. Uthappa took Sandeep Sharma to the cleaners and scythed four boundaries in his first 2 overs. However, Sandeep will be itching to pay back and send Uthappa back to the dug out to make early inroads. Let’s walk through other key battles that are sure to the keep the Kolkata’s boisterous crowd on its feet: Live Cricket Scorecard:Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2016 Match 32 at Eden Gardens

Murali Vijay vs Morne Morkel: Vijay has been in ominous touch in this edition of IPL so far. He has amassed 198 runs and has two half-centuries to his name, taking his team over the line on both occasions.

On the other hand, Morkel has been at his lethal best on India’s batsman-friendly wickets. In 4 matches he played this season, he managed to scalp 6 wicket at an economy of 7.50 RPO. When he’ll be pit against Vijay on Kolkata’s belter of a track, it’ll be an uphill task for him to dismantle Vijay’s defence. However, with the kind of pace and bounce Morkel generates, Vijay might have a tough time to go all guns blazing.

Yusuf Pathan vs Akshar Patel: Yusuf’s 29-ball 60 in KKR’s last match at Bengaluru was one of the entertaining knocks of this edition. Despite KKR being 69 for 4 in the pursuit of 186 runs, Yusuf stood his ground and displayed his heroics with the bat.

Yusuf will face the in-form Akshar in middle over. Akshar was awarded Player of the Match for hat-trick against Gujarat Lions (GL). He dismissed the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja to take his team to the doorstep of victory. Given Yusuf likes bludgeoning the spinners, this battle is sure to keep the IPL fans on the edge of their seats. Preview: Mighty KKR take on struggling KXIP

Glenn Maxwell vs Piyush Chawla: Maxwell has been in a lean patch, scoring only 98 runs in 7 matches. Maxwell played a pivotal role in the 7th season — the only time KXIP managed to reach the finals. For KXIP to stay alive in the Playoffs race, he’ll have to fire on cylinders and get some runs under his belt.

Chawla has got the better of the best of batsmen of late with his wily wrong ones. Maxwell has the knack of easing the spinners over cow corner. Will Chawla deceive Maxwell with his leg spin or Maxwell spank Chawla all over the ground? It’s a question only time will tell.

Gautam Gambhir vs Mohit Sharma: With 339 runs to his name, captain Gambhir is the top-scorer for Kolkata. Gambhir has instilled a slight change in technique this season, helping him score runs all over the round. However, Gambhir’s inability to tackle the ball pitched in the corridor of uncertainty is something Mohit will thrive on.

Mohit has a reputation of consistently bowling tight line and length. Mohit has been efficiently putting lid on the runs in the batting Powerplay, not giving away easy runs. He has bagged 10 wickets so far and will be keen to dismiss in-form Gambhir to put KXIP in the driver’s seat.

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_.)

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