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Chennai can chase big
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Roy in for KKR
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KKR have lost three in a row
Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings
Sunday 23 April, 15:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports
Team news
Kolkata have lost three on the spin. They added Jason Roy and Litton Das last time out in a heavy loss to Delhi with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jagadeesan missing out. Their reluctance to get Venkatesh Iyer to the crease as quickly as possible is bizarre.
Possible XXI: Roy, Das, Iyer, Mandeep, Rana, Rinku, Russell, Thakur, Narine, Anukul, Yadav, Chakravarthy
Super Kings are looking super after a strong show against Sunrisers. Their bowlers set up the win. Ravi Jadeja took three wickets. Ben Stokes may be injured but he probably wouldn't be getting into this team if fit.
Probable XXII: Gaikwad, Conway, Rahane, Rayudu, Moeen, Dube, Jadeja, Dhoni, Deshpande, Theekshana, Pathirana, Akash
Pitch report
Eden Gardens is good for batting. There have been scores of 204 and 228. Both were defended. The pre-tournament average winning score is ticking up from 198. Regardless of who bats first more than 185 should be a bear minimum and even KKR's flaky batting may be capable.
How to play
Kolkata are 2.166/5 with Chennai 1.834/5. We're surprised the Super Kings are not shorter given the formbook.
The hosts have been comprehensively beaten in their last three and it is unlikely that Chennai will have had many sleepless nights worrying about their opponents.
There has been a chase bias previously at Eden Gardens but with it being so flat the bowling team is often going off at inflated odds at the break. Chennai could well go after 220 here and win. So prepare for something in the region of 2.35/4.
Tops value
There are three players to watch out for on the top runscorer markets when Sportsbook go live with prices. Ruturaj Gaikwad has often been a boosted batter and we're looking for 13/5.
Shivam Dube has also been underrated on win rate so strongly cosnider 11/1 or better. And Andre Russell for KKR will always be value at around 13/2. All three are win-rate picks at the odds.