After blowing away the advantage of starting their Indian Premier League campaigns well, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders now find themselves looking for a desperate win to stay alive in the race for the playoffs.
Needing to win both their remaining matches, these teams are clutching at the ‘positives’ from the string of losses. Notwithstanding some individual performances, the collective failure of these teams, some of them at the threshold of victory, has led them to exasperated state.
The teams, locked at 10 points, have charted a similar course. Kings won four of its first six matches and thereafter, just one out of the next six.
KKR won four of the five matches, lost six in a row before regaining some confidence with the conquest of Mumbai Indians.
After Friday’s face-off, Kings will clash with Chennai Super Kings while KKR takes on host Mumbai Indians, in the double-header on Sunday.
Self-doubt has hurt these teams in varying degrees. Some of the on-field decisions of the rival skippers - Tamil Nadu teammates R. Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik - have backfired. Both teams have struggled with their ‘death-over’ bowling.
Kings’ poor reserve strength stood exposed once injuries hit the team. Barring K. L. Rahul, Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal in batting and Ashwin, Mohammad Shami and Murugan Ashwin in bowling, Kings XI clearly is looking at non-performing assets.
All-rounder Sam Curran, whose sensational hat-trick against Delhi Capitals here, brought him praise from all quarters, Ankit Rajpoot, Andrew Tye, G. C. Viljeon and more recently Mujeeb ur Rahman have all proved ineffective, by turns.
Mandeep Singh, the ‘finisher’, was dropped for the last match. Sarfaraz Khan, who last played against RCB on April 13, has made way for an additional bowler in the playing XI. In five outings, Nicholas Pooran, too, has not done justice to his reputation.
KKR is saddled with problems, in spite of Andre Russell’s all-round contribution (486 runs and 10 wickets). Surprisingly, it took too long for the think-tank to promote the just-turned-31 Jamaican game-changer in the batting order.
Two other overseas players, Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, too, have played to expectations. Nitish Rana, Shubhman Gill, Robin Uthappa and Piyush Chawla have all had their moments. But, the team has paid heavily for lacking quality bowling options.
If Kings draws confidence from playing at home, KKR has reasons to feel rejuvenated after its comprehensive win over MI.
For the teams, it’s a battle for survival.
Teams (from):
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (C), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, Matt Kelly, KC Cariappa and Yarra Prithviraj.
Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), K L Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Karun Nair, Moises Henriques, Varun Chakravarthi, Harpreet Brar, Simran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Hardus Viljoen, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi.
Match starts at 8pm.
