KKR look to make most of spin advantage against resurgent LSG
LSG's in-form batters will come up against KKR's spin attack on a hot afternoon at the Eden Gardens
Sreshth Shah
07-Apr-2025
Big picture - Pooran vs KKR's spinners
Only Rishabh Pant and Ravi Bishnoi are yet to hit their stride, but otherwise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are steadily assembling a winning formula in IPL 2025. Mitchell Marsh has notched up three fifties in four games, while Nicholas Pooran is the top run-getter of the season. When Pooran faltered against Mumbai Indians (MI) last Friday, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, and David Miller stepped up. The Indian seamers have been impressive, and Digvesh Rathi is already a contender for the tournament's emerging player.
LSG are at the right juncture to take off but their ability to handle spin, especially under the hot afternoon sun at Eden Gardens, could define the outcome against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Since IPL 2024, Markram has fallen to spin five times in 12 innings; Marsh's strike-rate plummets from 194 to 139 against spin and Pant averages just 15.4 against legspin.
Pooran is the exception. He has crossed 200 runs this season and has the best strike-rate (209) against spin since IPL 2024. But even he has struggled against Sunil Narine. That said, if Pooran and Miller can launch against KKR's spin attack, it could swing the game.
Related
KKR, too, seem to be clicking into gear, especially after their impressive showing against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh adapted well on a sticky pitch, which might be a recurring feature at Eden Gardens this season. Ajinkya Rahane and youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi have offered consistency, but they'd want better starts from their openers and more time in the middle for Andre Russell.
Off the pitch, the clash also carries a unique flavour for Kolkata's football faithful. The last few seasons have witnessed plenty of Mohun Bagan fans from Kolkata shift allegiances to LSG for one day; the two teams are owned by the same group headquartered in the city.
Form guide
Kolkata Knight Riders WLW (last three matches, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants WLW
Lucknow Super Giants WLW
Team news and likely XII
Kolkata Knight Riders
Quinton de Kock smashed a 97* against Rajasthan Royals but he's scored in single digits in the other three games. It remains to be seen whether KKR would consider Rahmanullah Gurbaz in place of him. Even though Moeen Ali did not bowl against SRH, he could retain his spot in place of Spencer Johnson, based on pitch conditions.
Likely XII (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Moeen Ali, 10 Harshit Rana, 11 Vaibhav Arora, 12 Varun Chakravarthy
Lucknow Super Giants
Mayank Yadav, who is bowling at "90-95% fitness" at the Centre for Excellence, is not yet available. They can use Markram as a third-spinner, but otherwise, left-arm spinners M Siddharth and Shahbaz Ahmed - who is also an allrounder - could be tempting options.
Likely XII (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Abdul Samad/Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Akash Deep, 11 Digvesh Rathi, 12 Ravi Bishnoi
The big question
Andre Russell has faced only 16 balls all season and scored ten runs. Given KKR's batting-heavy line-up, Russell has been batting down the order and is expected to start hitting as soon as he walks in. Even though he has hit his strides with the ball, are KKR underutilising one of their most expensive retentions by not giving him enough batting opportunities?
Should Russell bat up the order for KKR?
2.2K votesNo, the current batting order works for them
Yes, he should be given more batting time
In the spotlight: Ravi Bishnoi and Vaibhav Arora
Ravi Bishnoi's effectiveness has dropped since IPL 2024. This season, it has worsened. He has the poorest economy of all spinners in IPL 2025 with only three wickets in four outings. Rathi is outshining him, and despite being one of three retained LSG players before the mega auction, Bishnoi could lose his place in the XII if his season does not turn around. The surface on Tuesday, though, could suit him.
Vaibhav Arora was called KKR's powerplay specialist by Venkatesh after their win last game. Left-handed batters average only 9.60 against him, but against right-hand batters, like the openers he will encounter on Tuesday, he has been less effective. They score at a strike rate of 152.63 and average nearly 38 against Arora. Will he be able to turn it around?
Pitch and conditions
It was a sticky surface with patches lacking grass last time. Expect the same for the LSG fixture. Dew should not be a factor in the second innings although temperatures are expected to be around 33 degrees during start time, which could dictate the toss decision.
Stats and trivia
- Only two times has a captain opted to bat at the toss this season. Both were in day games
- Since IPL 2023, the team batting first has won eight of the 17 games at Eden Gardens. The average first innings score has been 191 while the lowest total defended is 176 (excluding shortened games)
- In 19 balls across five innings, Russell has hit Thakur for 54 runs at a strike-rate of 284
- Pooran has scored only 25 runs in 33 balls against Narine in the IPL
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx