Shubman Gill won the toss at Eden Gardens on Friday afternoon and, after a quick look at the pitch, decided Gujarat Titans would field. “It’s a bit sticky,” he said, expecting the surface to settle down for the chase later on.
The equation is simple for GT: one more victory and the holders are through to the play-offs. Confidence is high after five wins on the bounce, so Gill stuck with the XI that beat Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier in the week. No surprises there.
Kolkata Knight Riders had a bigger call to make. Varun Chakravarthy is back from a hairline fracture of the toe, so he slots straight in. Matheesha Pathirana, the young Sri Lankan slinger who hasn’t featured all season, starts on the Impact Player bench – a hint he could be unleashed if the pitch keeps its grip. Regular seamer Vaibhav Arora is also listed among the substitutes.
This is KKR’s 100th match at Eden Gardens, a nice round number, but the mood is more pragmatic than celebratory. Sitting eighth, they probably need three wins from three – all at home – to have a genuine shout at the knock-outs.
Teams at the toss
Kolkata Knight Riders: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Saurabh Dubey, Kartik Tyagi.
Impact bench: Vaibhav Arora, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Rovman Powell, Matheesha Pathirana.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Nishant Sindhu, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj.
Impact bench: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Prasidh Krishna, Kumar Kushagra.
What to watch for
• KKR’s batting has blown hot and cold. If Varun is fully fit, they might be tempted to hold a spinner back for Buttler in the powerplay.
• GT’s seamers like the new ball; Rabada v Allen could set the tone.
• Pathirana adds late-innings yorkers – if he does get on, it will tell us KKR expect a scrap at the death.
Play starts at 3.30 pm local time. A warm afternoon, slightly humid, no rain in the forecast – typical mid-May Kolkata.
