KKR vs KXIP Dream11 Team Tips IPL 2020 GRAND LEAGUE Captain Picks, 26 October

KOL vs KXIP Dream11: Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab battle it out for the fourth playoff spot in IPL 2020

The 46th match of IPL 2020 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab is a crucial contest in the context of the tournament with both teams aiming at a fourth-place finish in the points table. Only two points separate both teams and if KKR wins they will separate themselves from the bottom half of the points table while a KXIP win will mean a nail-biting finish to the league stages with a lot of permutations and combinations coming into the picture.
Kolkata Knight Riders haven’t performed up to their ability this tournament yet they find themselves at the fourth spot due to being in the right side of some close games, while Kings XI Punjab have started to seem like a threatening unit after sleepwalking through the first half of the league stages. The momentum is on Kings XI Punjab’s side with a four-match winning streak and a batting unit which is made for the shorter boundaries at Sharjah. The wickets at Sharjah have definitely slowed down but anything short of 180 is still chaseable with the shorter boundary dimensions.

Fixture Name: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab
Competition/Tournament: Indian Premier League 2020
Date: 26th October 2020
Time: 7:30 pm IST

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Brief score of the last result at the venue:
Mumbai Indians 116/0 (12.2 overs) beat Chennai Super Kings 114/9 (20 overs) by 10 wickets on 23rd October 2020

Team Form:
KKR: WLWLL
KXIP: WWWWL

Points table Standings:
KKR: No. 4
KXIP: No. 5

KOL vs KXIP Dream11 Team Prediction

Kolkata Knight Riders Team News

Injury update, unavailability:
Sunil Narine returned to the side last game after missing out on the previous matches due to the calling of suspect bowling action. But there’s still no encouraging news on Andre Russell who has been forced to sit out of the last two matches due to a hamstring strain.
Expected Changes:
They’re more likely to stick with the same squad from the previous game especially if Russell doesn’t get back to full fitness in KKR vs KXIP Dream11 Team Prediction.

KOL Dream 11 Playing 11
KKR Playing11:
S Gill
N Rana
R Tripathi
D Karthik (WK)
S Narine
E Morgan (C)
P Cummins
L Ferguson
K Nagarkoti
P Krishna
V Chakravarthy

Kings XI Punjab Team News

Injury update, unavailability: None.
Expected Changes:
M Singh replaced an injured M Agarwal in the last game and is most likely to be persisted with a shorter turnaround time between this match and the previous one.
Team Combination: G Maxwell has been awful with the bat this tournament and there’s every reason to drop him from the eleven, but the fact that teams generally hesitate to change a winning combination and KXIP team management’s lack of trust in the Indian domestic batters might help him retain himself in the eleven.

KXIP Dream11 Playing 11
KXIP Playing11:
KL Rahul (C & WK)
M Singh
C Gayle
N Pooran
G Maxwell
D Hooda
C Jordan
M Ashwin
M Shami
R Bishnoi
A Singh

KOL vs KXIP Today Match Prediction

Kings XI Punjab would’ve been firm favorites going into this contest, but the conditions at Sharjah makes it more of an even contest. Kolkata Knight Riders won’t mind the batter friendly conditions at Sharjah with most of their batsmen struggling for form, while their bowling attack has enough in them to trouble the KXIP’s batting unit.
Kings XI Punjab though still has a slight edge in KKR vs KXIP Today Match Prediction with their recent form, a dangerous top-order involving KL Rahul, C Gayle, and N Pooran, and finally their much-improved bowling attack.

KOL vs KXIP Dream11 Prediction Captain, Differential Picks 

Captaincy Picks –

KL Rahul – The Orange Cap holder has been in some form this season scoring 567 runs from 11 matches so far and will relish batting at Sharjah against KKR who doesn’t have a wrist-spinner to trouble him.
KL Rahul against KKR: Runs – 269 Average – 38.43
KL Rahul in last 5 matches: Runs – 254 Average – 63.5

C Gayle – He has shown glimpses of form in the previous games but the usual big knock from him has been missing and Sharjah could be the perfect venue to unleash the Gayle Storm. He usually struggles a bit against high-end pace bowlers especially with the short ones but the shorter boundaries and the reluctance from Cummins and Ferguson to use the short balls judiciously helps his cause.
C Gayle against KKR: Runs – 649 Average – 46.36
C Gayle in last 5 matches: Runs – 186 Average – 37.2

S Gill – He’s the highest run-scorer for KKR this season with 321 runs from 11 matches. He started the season with some spectacular innings but somehow hasn’t been able to retain the form. But the change of venue to Sharjah should help his natural strokeplay.
S Gill against KXIP: Runs – 152 Average – 152.00
S Gill in last 5 matches: Runs – 101 Average – 20.2

Vice-Captaincy Picks –

N Pooran – The little monster from Trinidad is in terrific form this season especially in the middle-overs where his attacking batsmanship has surprised the opposition bowling attacks. He has been one the lynchpins for KXIP this season scoring 327 runs from 11 games.
N Pooran against KKR: Runs – 64 Average – 32.00
N Pooran in last 5 matches: Runs – 131 Average – 26.2

R Tripathi – He has been floppy ever since his 81 against CSK this season with him getting starts but not capitalizing on it. KXIP bowling attack doesn’t pose much of a threat to him especially early in the Powerplay where KXIP are reluctant to use their wrist-spinners.
R Tripathi IPL Career Record: Runs – 939 Average – 25.38
R Tripathi in last 5 matches: Runs – 60 Average – 12

M Ashwin – He’s one of the key reasons for KXIP’s turnaround in the second half of the season and they haven’t lost a game this season when M Ashwin plays in the eleven. He has bowled pretty well in Sharjah returning figures of 1/16 and 2/23 in two matches. He will look to exploit KKR batsmen’s weakness against wrist-spin in KKR vs KXIP Dream 11 Prediction.
M Ashwin IPL Career Record: Wickets – 23 Average – 30.30
M Ashwin in last 5 matches: Wickets – 5 Average – 25.4

Differential Picks –

M Singh – He’s a great differential for this contest for the fact that he opens the batting in place of an injured Mayank and the venue being Sharjah. He will enjoy playing at the opening spot against a pace attack of KKR which will suit his conventional strokeplay.
M Singh against KKR: Runs – 328 Average – 27.33
M Singh in last 5 matches: Runs – 79 Average – 19.75

D Karthik – The promotion to No.4 this season hasn’t really worked in his favour with him getting out to wrist-spinners. It is a big risk to pick him against a KXIP side which fields two wrist-spinners in their eleven but the conditions at Sharjah should negate them which makes him the best differential pick you can ever get.
D Karthik against KXIP: Runs – 557 Average – 34.81
D Karthik in last 5 matches: Runs – 41 Average – 8.2

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