Kolkata, May 8: In a repeat of last year's final, a confident Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will look to continue their rollicking form at home as they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League 2015 (IPL 8) at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.
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The Eden has been a fortress so far this season for KKR with three back-to-back wins and with mystery tweaker Sunil Narine back in the side, the home team will believe they can outdo the opposition four times in a row.
In reply to RCB's 226/3, the Kings could only muster a dismal 88 before being bowled out in 13.4 overs.
The head-to-head encounters also tilt the odds in favour of the Knights who have clinched 10 out of 16 games. But in a Twenty20 game, the tables can turn within a matter of minutes and Kings XI will hope it does, especially with quality foreign willowers in the side who have been misfiring consistently for the last few weeks. But with spin-twins Brad Hogg and Sunil Narine bowling in tandem, it will be difficult belting them away.
The only thing that has worked for the Kings XI are their two bowlers up front Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh. Both have been able to pick wickets regularly.
However, their mettle will be tested when they come up against the likes of Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan who have been in quite brilliant form off late.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa (wicketkeeper), Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Veer Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sumit Narwal, Sheldon Jackson, Aditya Garhwal, KC Cariappa, Vaibhav Rawal, Manish Pandey, Morne Morkel, Pat Cummins, Ryan ten Doeschate, Andre Russell, Brad Hogg, Azhar Mahmood, Johan Botha.
Kings XI Punjab: George Bailey (captain), Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Shaun Marsh, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Rishi Dhawan, Manan Vohra, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Thisara Perera, Mitchell Johnson, Anureet Singh, Karanveer Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shivam Sharma, Parvinder Awana, Akshar Patel, Yogesh Gowalkar, Beuran Hendricks, Shardul Thakur.
Match starts 4 PM IST
Also playing on Saturday at 8 PM IST - DD Vs SRH in Raipur (Match Preview)
IANS