The two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be locking horns with the new entrants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 66th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on May 18 (Wednesday). While the Men in Purple won their previous contest against SRH, the new entrants lost their previous match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Speaking about their standings in the points table, LSG is currently placed third in the points table with eight wins in 13 matches. Meanwhile, KKR has witnessed a hot and cold tournament so far and they are placed in the sixth spot in the points table with six victories in 13 matches.
ALSO READ: Match 66 (KKR vs LSG) – Probable XI And Fantasy XI
Earlier this season, KKR and LSG locked horns with each other and the latter had registered a dominating win by a huge margin of 75 runs owing to a half-century from Quinton de Kock and individual three-wicket hauls by Jason Holder and Avesh Khan.
Both teams will look to finish with a flourish, and ahead of the key clash, we take a look at the player battles to watch out for.
#1 KL Rahul vs Umesh Yadav
KL Rahul seems to have lost his form in the second half of the edition. He has registered scores of 0, 8, and 10, with the duck coming against Kolkata. He will be looking to make a strong comeback against the Knight Riders. Bowling to him will be Umesh Yadav, who’s made a stellar IPL comeback with 16 wickets from 11 matches in an economy of just 6.93. His ability to fox the best of batters with subtle swing makes his battle against KL Rahul an interesting matchup.
#2 Shreyas Iyer vs Ravi Bishnoi
Shreyas Iyer will hope to lead from the front. He comes off a slow string of scores as well (6, 6, and 15) of which two were against quality pacers in Dushmantha Chameera and Umran Malik. Despite being the leading run-scorer for Kolkata, Iyer comes into the game looking to have his form back, but making life difficult will be another leggie in Ravi Bishnoi. The LSG tweaker has never dismissed Iyer in the IPL, and tomorrow might just see a first if he gets one through.
#3 Andre Russell vs Mohsin Khan
Mohsin Khan has been one of the finds of the season for LSG in the ongoing season. The 23-year-old left-arm quick has 10 wickets from seven games at an impressive economy rate of 6.08 — one of the best by a fast bowler this season. However, he will be bowling to Andre Russell, KKR’s most potent weapon, whose success comes against pacers. With his ability to swipe the ball bluntly into the stands, Russell will be quite the challenge for the seamer.
