Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns against Lucknow Super Giants in an important IPL 2026 encounter on Thursday (April 9) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
KKR are currently searching for their first win of the season, sitting 9th on the table after a string of losses and a rain-interrupted washout. In contrast, Rishabh Pant's LSG arrives with momentum following a clinical five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
KKR vs LSG Toss Report
Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant won the Toss and elected to Bowl first.
KKR vs LSG Team News & Injury Updates
The biggest boost for the hosts is the expected return of Sunil Narine, who missed the previous game due to illness. However, uncertainty looms over Varun Chakravarthy, whose participation remains doubtful due to a finger injury. All-rounder Cameron Green
has been seen bowling in the nets and may finally be cleared to bowl his full quota of overs.
LSG are expected to stick with their winning combination. Mohammed Shami, who has been lethal in the powerplay this season, will lead the attack alongside Avesh Khan.
KKR vs LSG Playing 11: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants Lineups
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane confirmed that Sunil Narine has replaced Blessing Muzarabani. Lucknow have made no changes to their side.
KKR: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell
Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Navdeep Saini, Kartik Tyagi
Impact Player: Manish Pandey/Vaibhav Arora/Tejasvi Dahiya/Rahul Tripathi/Tim Seifert
LSG: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav
Impact Player: Shahbaz Ahmed/Ayush Badoni/Matthew Breetzke/Mayank Yadav/Himmat Singh
Eden Gardens Pitch & Weather Report
The surface at Eden Gardens remains a "batting paradise" with short square boundaries (66-68m), making 180-200 a par score. While the city has seen early showers this week, the forecast for match hours (7:30 PM onwards) suggests a 0% probability of rain, though high humidity will make the ball difficult for bowlers to grip in the second half. Pacers are expected to get early zip off the pitch, especially with the proximity to the Hooghly River providing some evening swing.
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