Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
KKR are yet to register a win this season, while Lucknow Super Giants come into the match on the back of a victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Speaking after the toss, Pant said he was happy to bowl first, especially with rain expected in the area. The previous match at Eden Gardens was abandoned due to rain.
“I think we are looking to bowl first. We want to put the opposition under pressure. As I said before, we trust our bowlers to do a good job for us. The win definitely adds to the team’s atmosphere. We always talk about staying positive and maintaining intent. When you win, everything seems to come together, and we’re really happy about that. We’re going in with the same team — no changes for us. Our top order is strong, and we trust them to carry us through the innings,” Pant said.
Meanwhile, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said he would have also preferred to bowl first. He confirmed that Sunil Narine is fit again after missing the previous match due to injury.
“We wanted to bowl first as well. The previous match didn’t get completed, so you never know how things might have turned out. Just one change for us — Sunil comes in place of Blessing. Varun is still recovering from a hand injury,” Rahane said.
Confirmed playing XI for both teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Navdeep Saini, Kartik Tyagi
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
