IPL 2018: Gayle vs Russell match-up on cards

The form and efficacy of the two of the most prolific batsmen in the ongoing IPL 11 — Chris Gayle and Andre Russell — will be the draw as the current leader Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) takes on Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Eden Gardens on Saturday afternoon.

The two Caribbean players have shaped the fortune of the two teams so far. It is likely to be another big test of their hitting ability. Both sides have six points from three wins each but KKR, which has played a match more, is on top with a better net run-rate.

Gayle, who started his IPL career with KKR in 2008 before flourishing with Royal Challengers Bangalore since joining it in 2011, has made a grand return to form. After no one picked him in the first two rounds of this season’s auctions in January, the Punjab franchise finally got Gayle the fold. The 38-year-old Jamaican left-hander has since then justified his inclusion hitting a 63 (against Chennai Super Kings) before scoring the first century of the ongoing tournament in his unbeaten 104 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In his two knocks the hurricane hitter has amassed 15 sixes to be in the second spot behind his compatriot Russell. The Jamaican all-rounder is on top of the list with 19 sixes which have come in four innings that he has played for KKR.

The Caribbean influence has been a predominant factor for many of the sides in the tournament. “The volume of T20 leagues they play across the globe all round the year is making them highly specialised in this format of the game… They have got physical attributes, the power... The guys like (Kieron) Pollard, Russell and Gayle are physically strong guys, even their miss-hits go over the boundary,” Heath Streak, KKR’s bowling coach, came up with the reason behind the success of the Caribbean cricketers in T20. 

While Russell stood out with his performance with the bat alongside Nitish Rana, the KKR also has been leaning on the effectiveness of its spin triumvirate including the off-spinner from Trinidad and Tobago, Sunil Narine, chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and the leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. 

The KXIP line-up is also quite interesting with captain R. Ashwin heading the bowling attack with Australian pacer Andrew Tye and the young Afghanistan off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The batting apart from Gayle has the likes of Aaron Finch, K.L. Rahul and Mayank Agarwal.

Teams (from):

Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (c and WK), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi and Tom Curran.

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, AJ Tye, Mohit Sharma and Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Match starts 1600 IST.