What

The Kolkata Knight Riders will return to the familiar surrounds of their home ground for the first time since April 13 when they take on Kings XI Punjab in Match 32 of VIVO IPL 2016.

KKR began their season with two home matches, but have since been on the road, playing six consecutive away fixtures. Gautam Gambhir’s team are comfortably placed in the top half of the table. KKR ‘s four wins on the road, put together with their good track record at the Eden Gardens, means the twice-champions are in with a very good chance of making it to the Playoffs. In their most recent outing, faced with a challenging target of 186, KKR cantered to a win – this despite a poor start to their run-chase, courtesy fireworks from Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan, and their match-winning 96-run partnership.

Kings XI Punjab will take plenty of confidence from their felling of the table-toppers Gujarat Lions on Sunday. In a match which was supposed to be no match, with the Lions and Kings XI Punjab finding themselves placed at the two ends of the table respectively, KXIP defeated the Lions by 23 runs. Things are looking bright for KXIP; several players contributed to that win against the Lions, and KXIP will need to kick on from that win and stitch together a series of wins if they are to remain in contention for a place in the Playoffs.

When

4 May 2016, 2000 Hrs IST

Where

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Weather

Temperature: Max 29°c, Min 30°c
Humidity: Max 81%
Wind: 15kmph

The Protagonists

Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, who starred in KKR’s early wins this season, haven’t clicked as a pair in the last two matches, and the team will need them to come to the party. Manish Pandey has returned to the XI and he needs to rediscover the rhythm he was in before missing a couple of matches because of illness. In Suryakumar Yadav, Russell and Pathan, KKR have three players who have won them matches with the bat now, and opponents will always be wary when they are in the middle. The focus will be on the KKR spinners; the team might contemplate bringing in one of Shakib-al-Hasan or Brad Hogg to tap into the usually spinner-friendly conditions at the venue.

Kings XI Punjab will miss the services of Shaun Marsh, who has been ruled out because of a back injury. In the circumstances, KXIP will hope skipper Murali Vijay can bat deep into the innings and hope the likes of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller – who have the confidence of a few runs against their names – can get cracking. Sandeep Sharma has done a very good job, and he together with Mohit Sharma will be the important characters in the team’s bowling plans.

Head to Head

KKR have a 12-6 win-loss record from 18 matches against Kings XI Punjab. KKR’s 12 wins include their wins in both Playoff matches – Qualifier 1 & Final – in the 2014 season, and their six-wicket win in Mohali earlier this season.

In matches played at the Eden Gardens, KKR have a 5-2 win-loss record against Kings XI Punjab.

Trivia