The 66th match of the IPL 2022 will see Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an exciting encounter at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. LSG are almost at the doors of the playoffs, while KKR are placed 6th on the points table.
Both teams require a win, given that KKR needs to stay alive in the tournament while LSG will qualify for the finals with a victory in this important match.
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Keeping this in mind, here is the playing XIs for the KKR v LSG match.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
KKR have spent almost the entire IPL 2022 trying to find an opening combination that worked. They've already used five combinations this season and finally managed to get their first 50-plus opening stand through Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane two games ago.
But with Rahane out with an injury, either Sheldon Jackson or Baba Indrajith will come in and open with Iyer.
The remainder of KKR batting is expected to be the same with Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Sam Billings, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell waving their willows. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy have done well as a pair.
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Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee are quite capable of using the new ball to their advantage upfront and giving KKR early breakthroughs.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
For LSG, things are the opposite as their opening combination of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock has an average of 36.13, the best in the IPL 2022 for the first wicket. Their batting problems start after these two get out.
From Nos. 3 to 6, Super Giants' batters have averaged 21.88, which is the worst of any team this season. Deepak Hooda has done well in patches at no.3, while Manish Pandey was tried and discarded. Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, etc haven’t managed to instill confidence in the middle order.
Having fallen short in chases in the last two matches, they might want to make sure their batting clicks this time as they have a decent net run rate to go through with a win.
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However, LSG has been proud of their bowling, with Dushmantha Chameera and Avesh Khan bringing in the heat and Mohsin Khan giving India a brilliant option for a left-arm pacer. Ravi Bishnoi is back and eager to impress.
KKR COC Predicted Playing XI:
Baba Indrajith, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (WK), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy
LSG COC Predicted Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock (WK), KL Rahul (C), Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
