Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2017, Mohali
By: Shashank Kishore
Toss Kolkata Knight Riders chose to bowl v Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab were put in to bat in the first of three knockout games by Gautam Gambhir, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, in Mohali.
Glenn Maxwell announced four changes to the Kings XI side that failed to defend 189 against Gujarat Lions two nights ago. Spinners Swapnil Singh and Rahul Tewatia came in along with Manan Vohra and Matt Henry, the New Zealand fast bowler, picked for his first game this season.
The absence of Hashim Amla and David Miller, who have flown back to South Africa to prepare for the a short ODI series in England, resulted in Kings XI playing only four specialist batsmen and the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Meanwhile, Knight Riders were near full-strength with Robin Uthappa, who missed their last two games to nurse a sore hamstring, taking over wicketkeeping duties from Sheldon Jackson, while Kuldeep Yadav replaced Piyush Chawla.
A win for Knight Riders would mean they join Mumbai Indians, Rising Pune Supergiant and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the playoffs. A Knight Riders win would also make this the earliest the four qualifying spots have been decided in the tournament’s history. (ESPNcricinfo)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Chris Lynn, 4 Robin Uthappa (wk), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Ankit Rajpoot
Kings XI Punjab: 1 Manan Vohra, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 5 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Matt Henry, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Swapnil Singh
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
