Kolkata Knight Riders will be up against the Kings XI Punjab when the two teams clash in their IPL fixture which is set to be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday, April 26.
The Knight Riders have had a torrid season winning only two of their seven matches and are winless in their last three outings.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir looked on clueless as his side disintegrated yet again to Mumbai Indians even after putting on a total of 159 runs.
In most people’s assessment of the Knight Riders, the bowling would rank highly, but it was a failure to bowl well on a low and slow Eden wicket that cost them the match against the Mumbai Indians.
Once more, it will be down to the likes of Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, and Eoin Morgan to put up a good score for the opposition. Manoj Tiwary batted sensibly in the last match while Yusuf Pathan got the team off to a flying start.
However, Pathan did that against spin bowling, an area of strength, and he has been susceptible to pace throughout his career. The bowling has to come together as well unlike what we have seen in the last few games.
Kings XI Punjab are expected to drop Adam Gilchrist from the lineup after the Aussies failure to contribute at the top of the order. A lot of the pressure will be on David Hussey and David Miller besides Mandeep Singh at the top of the order.
Luke Pomersbach needs to do well as well as there is no depth in their batting. This being a young side, there is a lot of inexperience there which is sometimes a boon and sometimes a curse.
Harmeet Singh, Praveen Kumar, and Parvinder Awana will need to bowl tightly in conditions which may not support their brand of bowling, for the Kings XI to have a chance.