Published: Apr 22, 2017, 12:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 22, 2017, 01:25 AM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates’ post of Match No. 23 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Lions (GL). The match will be played at the Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata. KKR are currently at the No. 2 spot in the IPL 10 points table while things are looking gloomy for GL, who are sitting at No. 8. Both teams have played equal number of matches so far. KKR will get to the Numero Uno position if they win, while GL will still be placed at the bottom of the table unless they win by a massive margin. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Lions – Match 23
Both teams earlier clashed in Match No.3 of IPL 2017 where Gautam Gambhir along with Chris Lynn went hammer and tong on the Lions bowlers. The pair added 184-runs for the first wicket were Lynn remained unbeaten on 93 while Gambhir stood not out on 76. Thankfully, for Lions there would be no Lynn in today’s match as the right-handed batsman is out with an injury. KKR will be happy with the form of Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan, who have guided the side to notable wins. Speaking of their bowling, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav form a potent attack. Add Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme in the mix and KKR look like a complete package.
Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, have struggled to get any hold over their bowling in this edition. Praveen Kumar, Shivil Kaushik and Dhawal Kulkarni, who formed their mainstay last year, have been taken to the cleaners. Only Basil Thampi and Andrew Tye have provided some respite to them. Brad Hodge and co. will be highly disappointed with Kaushik, who has been the biggest let down for them this season. Skipper Suresh Raina could very well rope in Nathu Singh into the lineup. World’s No.1 Test bowler Ravindra Jadeja too has looked unlike his old self.
Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy and Aaron Finch will form their batting fulcrum. Raina, Dinesh Karthik and Ishan Kishan have so far have been on-off in the tournament. If Dwayne Bravo is fit, Smith could get the boot.
Squads:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Chris Woakes, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan, Darren Bravo, Ishank Jaggi, Umesh Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin de Grandhomme, Rishi Dhawan, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Ankit Rajpoot, Sayan Ghosh, Ramsingh Sanjay Yadav.
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aaron Finch, Shadab Bashir Jakati, Jason Roy, Shivil Kaushik, Dwayne Bravo, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Jaydev Shah, Pradeep Sangwan, James Faulkner, Akshdeep Nath, Andrew Tye, Chirag Suri, Basil Thampi, Ishan Kishan, Nathu Singh, Shubham Agarwal, Tejas Baroka, Pratham Singh, Shelley Shaurya.
