Kolkata Knight Riders will host the Deccan Chargers in the 32nd game of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
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A Historical View:
The Knight Riders have had a patchy run in the tournament so far but then you could say that about every side. The good news for them is that they have won two games in a row now and are second only to the Delhi Daredevils in the table.
Of course the issue is that there are five teams with eight points in the points table, so it is one of the most open seasons of the IPL so far. A win here takes them to a solo top position.
The Chargers have struggled this season and that is under-stating the facts. Five games, five losses and the coach Darren Lehmann was left to defend his team by saying that they were at least fighting hard. What will also not please the Chargers is their previous record against the Knight Riders reads 2-7 – things may not get more difficult.
Probable selection:
The Knight Riders brought in Brett Lee last game to partner Sunil Narine, with Jacques Kallis and Brendon McCullum being the other foreign players in the team. The sense is that on an Eden Gardens track, they might have to change things around and go for Shakib al Hasan.
One of McCullum or Brett Lee, therefore, might have to sit out. The rest of the line-up will remain the same but the sense is that irrespective of whether or not McCullum plays, captain Gautam Gambhir is in a form good enough to open the innings.
Narine and Rajat Bhati will be bowlers to look out for.
Deccan Chargers have some serious thinking to do. They are consistently failing with the bat towards the end of the innings, and on the few occasions they are doing a decent job, they are losing it with their bowling.
Kumar Sangakkara needs a big one under his belt to get his confidence going while Dan Christian could well be back into the 11. Cameron White’s poor form continued last game and he will probably be given a break.
Ankit Sharma could get his spinners going at the Eden Gardens well.
Odds:
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 5/8 (
SportingBet) to win their fifth game this season, as compared to the odds of 11/8 (
Coral) for Deccan Chargers to spring a surprise.
IPL 2012 live options:
You can watch the Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers IPL 2012 match
live online here. You can also watch the Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers IPL 2012 live on Sony’s Set Max in India and ITV4 in the UK from 2.30 pm GMT on April 24.
