Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings, 33rd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Indian Premier League, 2018 Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata Date & Time: May 03, 08:00 PM LOCAL

Dhoni's late assault helped CSK post 177 © BCCI

What next?

CSK will have to fix their bowling issues quickly. They were taken to the cleaners towards the end and they have less than 48 hours to recover now with their next game scheduled on Saturday evening against RCB. They still remain second on the table though and on the other hand, KKR will have 24 hours extra to go and take on a struggling MI at the Wankhede.

Shubman Gill showing what he can do when he's given to bat at his ideal position!

1146 146

Toss

KKR won the toss and elected to field. They have had to make one change to their side. Nitish Rana, who is yet to recover from his back injury, has been rested and Rinku Singh is playing today. CSK have come in with an unchanged XI.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Shivam Mavi, Piyush Chawla, Mitchell Johnson, Kuldeep Yadav

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Lungi Ngidi, KM Asif

KKR's powerplay woes

In the last four games they have played, KKR have failed to pick even a single wicket in the powerplay and that is a huge concern going forward. Especially against the likes of CSK, it is imperative that they strike early to put pressure on that middle order. Akash has more on KKR's PP woes here.

Build up

Good evening! It's Match 33 of IPL 2018, and CSK and KKR are set to play their second round of the league phase, this time at the latter's den. The MS Dhoni-led side have so far beaten pre-tournament predictions and done well with their veterans' army to find themselves at the top of the points table. But much of their success has been at the back of the superb form of their batsmen. The bowlers are yet to make a solid mark.

Much like them, Kolkata Knight Riders too have outbattled the odds and kept themselves in the top four despite a thin squad. Most of their players have hit form but their inconsistencies is what has caused their struggle. If KKR come out all guns blazing, they are as good a T20 side as any but if not CSK have the ammunition to take advantage of their weaknesses.

Who will come out on top today? Welcome to our live blog for this game from the Eden Gardens. Our man at the ground Akash Sarkar already has a bit of info for us. He predicts the CSK fans could outnumber the KKR fans tonight. That will be something!