Kings XI Punjab will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 52nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Chandigarh on Friday. The game is expected to be a great one as both teams need a win to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the playoffs. In the previous meeting between both teams earlier in the competition, it was Kolkata who came out on top with a 28-run margin.
The home side will come in the match low on confidence as they've suffered three consecutive defeats, the last of which came in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the batting department, Punjab will be relying on the likes of in-form Lokesh Rahul, veteran West Indies opener Chris Gayle and young Mayank Agarwal to score bulk of runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of captain Ravichandran Ashwin and pacer Mohammed Shami to provide timely breakthroughs.
On the other hand, Kolkata will come in the match high on confidence after they finally managed to break their six-match losing streak with a 34-run win against Mumbai Indians in their previous match. In the batting department, KKR will be relying on the likes of captain Dinesh Karthik, veteran right-hander Robin Uthappa, young Nitish Rana, Australia's Chris Lynn and in-form Andre Russell, whereas with the ball in hand, the onus will be on the spin trio of Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav to provide timely breakthroughs.
