Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in match no. 30 of the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday.
Their earlier fixture was a thrilling encounter where CSK outplayed KKR in all the departments and won the match by just two runs. CSK could only post 134 runs on the board and defended this low target to perfection. KKR now have lost two matches on a trot and one of their last three games was washed out due to rain. They would be desperate to get back to winning ways against formidable CSK.
Here are some of the key players from both the sides:
Kolkata Knight Riders
Robin Uthappa: Uthappa has been scratchy right throughout the tournament and has not come in handy at the top of the order alongside his skipper Gautam Gambhir. He looked in good touch after a long time in the last match but failed to guide his team over the line. He needs to bat well upfront in order to give his side a chance.
Brad Hogg: This 44-year old crafty chinaman bowler showed in the last match that he has still got some Australian grit left in him. He was almost unplayable but could only manage to pick up a solitary wicket of Ravindra Jadeja. He looks like a suitable replacement for Sunil Narine and is definitely one of the key players that KKR would bank on.
Chennai Super Kings
Brendon McCullum: McCullum has been absolutely brilliant at the top of the order for CSK and he alongside Dwayne Smith has scored 46% of the runs that CSK has scored in this tournament. If he gets going, there are very few boundaries in the world that are big enough to stop this man who is in terrific form. He is equally good in the field and saved almost 10-15 runs in the last match against KKR.
Ashish Nehra: Nehra is currently the holder of the Purple Cap and has bowled really well with the new ball. He did not disappoint his skipper MS Dhoni whenever he threw the ball at him. Unfortunately, he did not have much of an impact in the last match as he was taken for a lot of runs but he would look to get back to his rhythm as soon as possible.
