Despite a couple of rain impacted games, it really feels like the IPL season is warming up, especially after the last ball thriller yesterday.
KKR come into this game with their first point on the board after their no result versus PBKS last time out. To be honest, after the start they had to that game they were probably quite grateful that the rain came.
Xavier Bartlett got the ball to nip around and the Knight Riders top order had no answer. Cameron Green's poor run continued and the pressure is really beginning to mount on the IPL's record overseas signing.
The bad news for this KKR top order is that things aren't likely to get any easier in this match. Mohammed Shammi cut through SRH in LSG's last match match to leave that much vaunted top order in tatters at 11 for 3. That of course following on from their powerplay exploits in their first game against Delhi Capitals who were themselves reduced to 26 for 4.
KKR also went into the match against PBKS without Narine or Varun Chakaravarty the first time since 2019 that neither had appeared on the Knight Rider's team sheet. Narine was said to have been struggling with a side strain while VC had a finger injury on his non-bowling hand. It seems likely that the former will return for this game but Varun is less likely to play.
My guess is that if he were in form a finger injury to a non-bowling hand wouldn't stop him playing, particularly as he could just be used as the impact sub. However, come off the back of a difficult World Cup, he's been hit around by all batters in IPL 2026 and perhaps a short break will do him good.
KKR had opted to bat first against PBKS and while the rain ultimately meant that their decision was irrelevant, Rahane did suggest that he felt the pitch would dry out and turn in the 2nd innings. If KKR have their frontline spinners fit and firing then those kind of conditions would leave them with a dangerous looking attack.
As for LSG, after an impressive bowling display, their batters did just enought to get over the line for the win against SRH.
Rishabh Pant dropped himself down the order to number 3 and played a captain's knock to make sure his side got over the line. Aiden Markram, looked far happier opening and made 45 from that position. You'd image that will be the top 3 for now and the foreseeable future.
Thereafter, LSG are struggling to find form and balance. Pooran was dropped down to number 5 and failed again while Badoni scratched around for 9 balls before running past one and being stumped.
While they were only chasing a modest total, LSG struggled to get after the slow bowlers again and that might give KKR hope if they can get at least 1 of their star spinners back and firing and put them on a pitch which suits them.
As for who will make up the LSG bowling attack in this match, who knows? The Super Giants have already used 10 different bowlers in their first 2 games and seem to have an attack that can be tweaked to make an impact whatever the conditions.
Let's see what kind of a pitch we get at Eden Gardens this evening. I can't imagine that the home side would want to create one that benefits LSG's fast bowlers but with the wet weather that's been around, it might be difficult to make it as dry as they'd like to play to their bowling strengths.
On the weather front, the good news is that the rain has disappeared for now and there's no reason to believe we won't get a full game.
IPL Boundary Blackjack Round 3
Round 3 starts today!
So far we've had 6 different winners over the first 2 rounds. Can anyone claim a 2nd top 3 finish or are we set for another new batch of IPL experts? Here are the runners and riders...
| Position | Player | Points | Hits | Busts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |