Hello and welcome to the Live Blog for Match 24 of IPL 2020 - the first match of Saturday's double-header - featuring Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders. Make sure to hit refresh for all the latest updates.
Toss and teams:
KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik won the toss and has opted to bat. One change for KKR - Prasidh Krishna replaces Shivam Mavi. For KXIP, Chris Jordan replaces Sheldon Cottrell who might miss out on a few more games due to an injury, according to KL Rahul.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Simran Singh(w), Glenn Maxwell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chris Jordan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Do you think this combination might work?
Build-up
In their last 14 encounters since 2014, Kings XI Punjab have won only thrice against Kolkata Knight Riders. Despite two of KXIP batsmen being present in the top three run-getters in this IPL so far, Kings XI haven't strung together consistent performances, with four successive losses reducing them to the bottom of the table. The frequent chopping and changing of personnel isn't helping their cause in any way. There is a likelihood of Chris Gayle featuring for KXIP in this game. Will that herald the start of their comeback journey?
Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, are looking a lot more settled and although it has been a roller-coaster journey of sorts for them, they are in the top half of the points table with three wins from five matches. Rahul Tripathi's impressive knock in their last game will come as a shot in the arm for KKR, who have also struggled a bit finding their best batting order. There is a concern with Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell not being amongst the runs but KKR will be banking on the two senior players to overcome the struggles.
A mini Caribbean carnival is on the cards, writes Purnima Malhotra as she previews the first game of Saturday's double-header. Meanwhile, KXIP skipper KL Rahul has brushed aside concerns over his strike-rate suggesting that numbers can be misleading at times.
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