New Delhi:
The first return fixture of the Indian Premier League 2017 will see a clash between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Lions (GL) at the scenic Eden Gardens stadium on Tuesday. The star-studded Kolkata team will have a slight advantage over their rivals as they will enjoy enough support from the passionate home crowd. But the home team has more reasons to smile ahead of the encounter.
Kolkata are heading into the contest on the back of a hat-trick of victories whereas the Gujarat have recently lost a high-scoring match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
IPL 2017 FULL COVERAGE
With two home and two away wins from five matches, the in-form KKR are on a roll, quite contrast to the campaign of Gujarat who finished the league stages on top last season but are yet to find their rhythm this year with just one victory out of five.
Read | IPL 2017: High on confidence Kolkata Knight Riders to take on struggling Gujarat Lions
When these teams met earlier this season, KKR romped to a 10-wicket victory courtesy captain Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn’s unbeaten 184-run opening partnership. Both openers chased down a dounting 183-run target quite comfortable in just 14.5 overs.
Head-to-head
Matches played: 3
Kolkata Knight Riders won: 1
Gujarat Lions won: 2
Likely Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Robin Uttappa, Manish Pandey, Sakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Chris Woakes, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Umesh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine
Gujarat Lions: Brendon Mccullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina (Captain), Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Andrew Tye, Ishan Kishan, Praveen Kumar, Basil Thampi, Shadab Jakati
