On Friday, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will be hosting the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for match 52 of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Both the franchises have managed to win just 5 games from 12 still have a chance of qualifying to the playoffs. Both the teams need to win their last two matches and while KKR has a winning momentum after defeating strong Mumbai team, Punjab’s bowlers have let them down who were taken apart by the SRH batsmen in the last game in a comprehensive loss.
These two teams have come across each other 24 times in the past. KKR have emerged victorious in 16 games, while Kings XI have managed to win only eight times. KKR won by 28 runs when these two met earlier in the season in Kolkata.
ALSO READ: Match 52 (KXIP vs KKR): Probable Fantasy XI
Let us, try and churn out the best possible XIs of both the teams in the game:
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
Punjab has been highly top-heavy this season as the likes of David Miller and Nicholas Pooran have failed to deliver. Even, Punjab’s team selection has also let them down in this season and their neglection of Andrew Tye has given them a lot of grief in the death overs. However, the inclusion of Mujeeb Ur Rahman is not needed and Punjab must look to play an extra batsman or an all-rounder in the side.
Probable XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran (wk), David Miller, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
In the last game against MI, the KKR batsmen finally came good as Shubman Gill’s promotion to the top has worked wonders for the side. They can decimate Punjab’s bowling attack as now, they have made Andre Russell’s batting position flexible. Even, KKR’s bowlers like Harry Gurney and Sandeep Warrier did a pretty decent job against Mumbai and they need to carry the good form on the Mohali track as well. Piyush Chawla hasn’t done a good job in Kuldeep Yadav’s absence.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Chris Lynn, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Harry Gurney, and Sandeep Warrier.
