Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants IPL Tips: LSG too strong for unreliable KKR

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Thursday 9 April,15:00
TV: Sky Sports

Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants IPL team news

Kolkata Knight Riders are expecting Cameron Green to be able to bowl in this contest, which should help with their bowling balance. Green looks like a disaster at No 3 when not contributing with the bat and it is to the detriment of the KKR brains' trust that they didn't recognise they were a bowler down by playing him.

Even so, Green is hardly a golden arm with the ball in IPL. His 16 wickets across 31 innings have cost 36 and his economy is more than nine. Matheesha Pathirana is bowling again in the nets but a a debut is not expected imminently.

Sunil Narine should be available after missing the washout with illness. Rovman Powell probably comes out. The prognosis is not as good for key spinner Varun Chakravarthy. He is suffering from a hand injury and is considered a major doubt. 

Possible XI: Rahane, Allen (sub Muzarabani), Green, Raghuvanshi, Rinku, Anukul, Ramandeep, Narine, Tyagi, Arora, Saini

Lucknow Super Giants have a win and defeat to their name. It's early days but they could be in for an inconsistent season. It might help if they picked a plan and stuck to it. A chopping and changing of the batting order already is unlikely to engender confidence in players and punters alike.

Rishabh Pant unexpectedly opened the batting in game one. Then he was down at No 3. Putting faith in Aiden Markram and Mitch Marsh as openers is the way to go and demanding Nic Pooran bats first down likewise. They are not utilising resources with the latter batting below Ayush Badoni.

LSG are also waiting on an injured Sri Lankan. There appears to be no timeline for Wanindu Hasaranga's appearance. Digvesh Rathi is a solid option as a spinner, though. Prince Yadav's death bowling caught the eye against Sunrisers. 

Possible XI: Markram, Marsh, Pant, Badoni (sub Shami), Pooran, Samad, Choudhury, Siddharth, Avesh, Rathi, Prince

Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants IPL pitch report

Eden Gardens is a road and we refer to pre-match advice before the Punjab washout. Sunrisers made 226 against KKR in the game before. The three-year RPO is getting up towards 10 in night matches. 

We are much more likely to trust the LSG batting over KKR, who couldn't make use of the flat surface in defeat by Sunrisers. Avoiding both teams to score markets is advised. Instead playing overs on the LSG 20-over line in the mid 190s could be the way to go. 

Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants match prediction

Kolkata may reckon that now Green is available to bowl, everything will be fine. They could be in for a nasty shock against a Lucknow side who have enough about them to make it another uncomfortable night.

The match odds market makes LSG narrow favourites at 1.9010/11 and that looks a solid wager. There is a growing belief that KKR's chaos in selection and injury issues could mean they are now in for a damaging campaign.

To that end, if the 1.9010/11 is not for you derivatives on the LSG win are available with Sportsbook. We would be surprised if KKR could match the power of Pooran and co so the 7/42.75 that they hit most sixes to take the win makes sense. LSG were second on the sixes hit list last term with KKR bottom.

Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants  player bets

Nic Pooran is something of a Mr Reliable on a two-year study for top-bat wins. His pre-tournament 30% rate was one of the best around. We have not played yet and are grateful. Feathers. Spitting. Those are two words that come to mind if you'd have been on against Sunrisers last time for example and you had to wait for him to come in at No 5. if you can stomach LSG messing around again then the 7/24.50 is not the worst. It would not be a surprise if he returned to that No 3 slot soon, though.

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