Key match-ups, analysis, form, team news, weather forecast, tickets, TV and streaming information, odds, predictions and more ahead of the latest encounter in the 2023 IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders take on Lucknow Super Giants in the 2023 Indian Premier League.
The match is scheduled to start at 7.30pm local time (3pm BST) on Saturday, May 20.
The match will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Lucknow Super Giants need one more win to qualify for the IPL playoffs while Kolkata Knight Riders can only win and hope that an unlikely turn of events sees them leapfrog teams into fourth.
Kolkata Knight Riders, like so many other teams around them in the middle of the IPL standings, have not been able to win consistently this season. They managed to emerge victorious in their last game against Chennai Super Kings as a strong bowling performance limited their opponents to 144. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy bowled excellently and will be looking to continue that form through to this game.
Lucknow Super Giants are in a relatively strong position on 15 points. They come into this game on the back of two straight wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. They were helped to victory in the latter by a good innings from the Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis who scored an unbeaten 89 off 47 balls.
Kolkata Knight Riders celebrate a Chennai Super Kings wicket [AFP via Getty Images]
The Super Giants' opening batsman Kyle Mayers was not included in the XI in their victory over Mumbai Indians, with Lucknow opting for Afghanistan's Naveen-ul-Haq instead. With LSG's bowling attack successfully restricting Mumbai Indians in their run chase, don't be surprised if this decision is repeated.
Jaydev Unadkat is injured and has been replaced in the Lucknow squad by Suryansh Shedge.
KKR's skipper Nitish Rana will receive no further punishment after being fined for arguing over the umpire's decision to punish the Knight Riders' slow over rate in their victory against CSK.
Kolkata's spinners, who bowled so well in their victory over Chennai, will have be looking to recreate their success against the Super Giants' big hitting middle order. This might be where the game is won and lost, because there is little doubt that Pandya, Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran will look to hit big when the dangerous Narine and Chakaravarthy come into the attack.
Matches played: 2
Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 0
Lucknow Super Giants wins: 2
Sunny and clear for most of the day, though there is a chance of a passing thunderstorm in the middle of the afternoon. Temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius come the start of play.
Lucknow Super Giants celebrate victory [AFP via Getty Images]
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (injured), Nitish Rana (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jadadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Shakib Al Hasan (unavailable), Jason Roy (replacement signing), Johnson Charles (replacement signing)
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c, injured), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Jaydev Unadkat (injured), Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yudhvir Charak, Karun Nair (replacement), Suryansh Shedge (replacement)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Lucknow Super Giants: Deepak Hooda, Quinton De Kock, Prerak Mankad, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi
Kolkata Knight Riders are the marginal outsiders with the bookmakers, with a best price available of evens. You can get a Lucknow Super Giants win at 13/16.
The recent win over CSK will have given Kolkata Knight Riders some much needed confidence. Who would bet against the IPL table being as tight as it possibly can be at the competition's conclusion? KKR win.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
If you are watching from the Middle East, you'll be able to view the game on Times Internet.
People from Bangladesh can watch the game on Gazi TV.
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