IPL 2023, KKR vs LSG: Listless Kolkata hopes against hope, Lucknow eyes consecutive playoff berth

Set to be clad in local giants Mohun Bagan's iconic green and maroon jersey, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) would find itself at home as they look to seal its playoff berth by knocking out a hapless two-time former champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their final 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday.

The real home team in this case, KKR, has not only complained of being let down by the conditions but its problems go deeper, having struggled to find a perfect winning combination in a topsy-turvy season, enduring seven defeats. Out of those seven, four losses were at the Eden Gardens.

Be it the batting, which still seems to be a work in progress, the bowling, especially the pace department, has also looked short on experience. In fielding, KKR has made a mockery of itself, with some of the efforts suggesting that the two-time champion does not 'belong' at this level.

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KKR batters simply have not been able to adapt to the surface while batting first as they scored below-par totals of 179/7 and 149/8 against defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) and former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR), respectively. Putting things into perspective, CSK and SRH scored 235/4 and 228/4 when they were put into bat by KKR at the same venue.

Courtesy of some individual brilliance from Rinku Singh and Varun Chakravarthy, the KKR still is lucky to have been able to keep its campaign alive in the 'blow hot-n-cold' season. With heavy mid-table traffic, there is a possibility of four teams being locked on 14 points with the one with a superior net run-rate making the playoffs.

Hanging by the thread, KKR with 12 points would not only need to win by a big margin, but it has to rely on Punjab Kings (vs Rajasthan Royals), GT (vs Royal Challengers Bangalore) and SunRisers Hyderabad (vs Mumbai Indians) to win their respective matches. LSG, however, does not have to fret so much about the mathematical scenarios as a win would be enough for them to seal their back-to-back playoff berth.

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On momentum too, LSG looks far superior to a struggling KKR, which has struggled to get into the act at its home den. Elevated to captaincy after KL Rahul's pull-out because of injury at the business end of the season, Krunal Pandya looked a natural leader, especially the way he managed to choke record former five-time champion MI while defending 177 speaks volumes about his captaincy.

Not only did he look heavily involved, but his tactical bowling changes also paved the way for LSG's slender five-run win the other day. Marcus Stoinis is proving to be the crisis man for LSG and was the difference in its stunning win over MI. He brought all his experience into count to score an 89 not out to revive their innings from being 35/3.

In bowling, Mohsin Khan has been a revelation as he along with spinner Ravi Bishnoi would look to relish the slow conditions of Eden. LSG, which will be donning a special edition Mohun Bagan colours, will further be bolstered by the support of the football heavyweights with both the teams having the same owner, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group. Behind the scenes, LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir, who led KKR to its two triumphs in 2012 and 2014, will add all the valuable inputs. For KKR, it's time to go back to the drawing board and reflect on the season that has gone wrong.

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Squads:
KKR: Nitish Rana (c), Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh and Aarya Desai.
LSG: Krunal Pandya (c), Ayush Badoni, Karn Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yudhvir Charak and Karun Nair.

Match details
Date and day: May 20, 2023 (Saturday)
Venue: Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema