Deadline: May 3, 2019 at 8 PM IST
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Pitch, conditions, and scores
Of their five matches at home, Punjab have lost only once, thanks to their openers Rahul and Gayle. The track is tailormade for both power-hitters. The ball comes onto the bat sweetly, and all they need is to manoeuvre it through the gaps. In that case, Kolkata too have swashbuckling batters at their disposal. Expect a high-scoring contest.
The average first and second innings scores read 169 and 165 respectively. Given the pitch does not change much, the chasing team has won thrice in five games. In addition to this, the dew gets heavier as the match progresses.
Probable XI for Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), David Miller, Mandeep Singh, R Ashwin, M Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh/Ankit Rajpoot
Probable XI for Kolkata: Shubman Gill, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Piyush Chawla, Harry Gurney, Sandeep Warrier
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy cricket team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
Note that you can, now, change your team after the toss. You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ names to get the data while making your fantasy team.
My XI: Dinesh Karthik (wk), Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn, KL Rahul (vc), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell (c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammad Shami
Points table
Both teams are in a do-or-die situation, having lost 7 of their 12 matches each. Kolkata’s positive net run rate has kept them one position ahead of Punjab in the points table, but whoever loses will not qualify for the playoffs – unless Hyderabad lose their remaining 2 matches.
Previous encounter
Half-centuries from Uthappa and Rana, followed by a late blitz by Russell, stretched Kolkata’s score to 218 for 4. In reply, Agarwal and Miller scored fifties, but Russell yet again took centre stage and restricted Punjab to 190 for 4 with his impressive bowling.
Punjab will give their all to avenge the loss.
Performance guide
Three players from both teams feature in the list of top 10 run-getters: Rahul (520 runs), Russell (486 runs), and Gayle (488 runs).
Punjab’s bowlers have been doing a fantastic job. Shami (16 wickets) and Ashwin (14 wickets) have done bulk of the damage. On the other hand, no bowler from Kolkata has been consistently effective. Narine, Chawla, and Russell have taken 10 wickets each.
Rahul needs to change his approach
Rahul was outrageously criticised for his slow innings in a massive chase of 213 runs earlier this week. Although he ended up scoring 79 off 56, his slow start broke the momentum of the chase. It was understandable that Punjab wanted him to bat through, but runs have to come thick and fast from both ends if they are to win matches.
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