IPL 2023, KKR vs LSG: Decoding the key player battles
Lucknow Super Giants will square off against the Kolkata Knight Riders in a must-win clash of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. LSG need to win to have any chance at a top-two finish, whereas KKR would want to win big to stay alive in the competition. The duels between the two sets of players will be a fascinating watch. Here's more.
Quinton de Kock vs Sunil Narine
Quinton de Kock has missed the majority of the season this time and similarly, Sunil Narine has had a poor campaign by his standards. De Kock has slammed 417 runs against KKR in the past and will look to enhance his numbers. His duel against Narine will be exciting as the WI spinner has dismissed him twice in six IPL meetings (SR: 100).
Nicholas Pooran vs Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy has reinvented himself this season with 19 wickets, whereas Nicholas Pooran has also shone for LSG. However, the southpaw struggles against Varun's mystery. The KKR spinner has dismissed Pooran twice in five IPL meetings, while he has scored 28 runs off 20 deliveries against him. Pooran owns a strike rate of 155.71 against leg-spinners in the IPL (six dismissals in 29 innings).
Nitish Rana vs Ravi Bishnoi
Nitish Rana is KKR's designated spin basher but his struggles against wrist spin are evident. He has slammed 280 runs in the IPL middle overs (7-16) at a strike rate of 142.85. His primary challenge will be against Ravi Bishnoi, who has scalped 13 wickets this season in the middle overs (ER: 7.72). Bishnoi is yet to dismiss Rana in two IPL innings.
Rinku Singh vs Mohsin Khan
Rinku Singh has had a breakthrough IPL season, having scored 407 runs for KKR. He is the highest run-scorer in the death overs (17-20) this season, having scored 193 runs. Meanwhile, Mohsin Khan will look to remove him early. Mohsin has scalped six wickets at the death in IPL with an economy of 8.20. He bowled a match-winning spell against MI at the death.
Pitch report, timing, and streaming details
Kolkata's Eden Gardens will host the fixture on May 20th from 7:30pm IST. The strip here is very good for batting and one can expect a high-scoring fixture. Spinners will get some assistance as the game goes on. 9.78 is the average run rate for teams batting first here this season. Star Sports will telecast the match, fans can also live-stream it on JioCinema.
