da leao： Either Shakib Al Hasan or Trent Boult is likely to replace the Australia fast bowler as Kolkata Knight Riders look to reclaim the top spot
da 888： The Preview by Sreshth Shah25-Apr-2017Match factsRising Pune Supergiant v Kolkata Knight Riders
Pune, April 26, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)3:56
Hogg: Tahir at his best with old ball
Form guide
Rising Pune Supergiant (fourth): defeated Mumbai Indians by three runs, defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets, defeated RCB by 27 runs
Kolkata Knight Riders (second): defeated RCB by 82 runs, lost to Gujarat Lions by four wickets, defeated Delhi Daredevils by four wickets
Head to headOverallKolkata Knight Riders chased 66 (D/L adjusted target) and 161 to win both at home and away against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016.In the newsKnight Riders will be without Nathan Coulter-Nile, who in their previous game took three wickets to bowl Royal Challengers Bangalore out for 49, which is the lowest total in IPL history. The 29-year old seamer has not travelled with the team to Pune, with captain Gautam Gambhir citing workload management as the reason.Coulter-Nile’s absence means either Shakib Al Hasan or Trent Boult could return to the team. Colin de Grandhomme hasn’t fired with the bat but his three-wicket haul on Sunday has boosted his chances of retaining his place.The likely XIsRising Pune Supergiant 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Ben Stokes, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Dan Christian, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Jaydev UnadkatKolkata Knight Riders 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Trent Boult/Shakib Al Hasan, 11 Kuldeep YadavStrategy Punt Overall in the IPL, Sunil Narine smashes spin at a strike-rate of 233 but pace at only 126. But this season, with his promotion to opener, he has smashed fast bowlers for 93 runs off 53 deliveries. So perhaps there is a case for Rising Pune to take pace off the ball and use Imran Tahir or Washington Sundar against him.Stats that matter MS Dhoni has struggled against Sunil Narine in T20s. He has managed only 27 runs off 54 balls. Manoj Tiwary has scored 139 runs off 82 balls, at a strike-rate of 167.07. He has been dismissed only three times in his last nine T20 innings, and has been hitting a boundary every four balls. Ajinkya Rahane has smashed Umesh Yadav for 54 runs in 38 balls without ever being dismissed in the IPL. Knight Riders have taken 28 wickets between overs 7 and 15, ten more than their closest rivals Sunrisers Hyderabad. Six KKR bowlers have taken three or more wickets during the middle overs, with Woakes’ tally of six being the highest. KKR’s quicks have been the most productive in the league. They have taken 34 wickets at an average of 19.82. On the other hand, Rising Pune’s seamers have managed only 24 wickets at an average of 32.54. Spinners have been more effective than seamers at MCA stadium this season. They have given away only 6.97 runs per over, taking a wicket every 19.42 runs. Seamers have leaked 9.50 runs an over, taking a wicket every 42.61 runs.
