In the air and GONE! de Kock holes out to long-off as he attempts to take control over Narine. Narine gets the ball to grip off the deck as de Kock rocks back in the crease to loft the ball to Mavi off the back-foot. He falls soon after reaching his half-century. Krunal Pandya in at 4.

LSG 73/1 in 7 overs: Roy maintains a flatter trajectory and de Kock works the gaps to find two runs, twice. A single to follow. Lucky reprieve for Hooda. He steps out for a slog over mid-wicket but gets a leading-edge just over the point fielder. A single for de Kock and he brings up a well-composed FIFTY.

Roy continues after the break

TIME OUT

LSG 66/1 in 6 overs: Harshit fires one to the pads and de Kock easily works it through mid-wicket for FOUR. The batters are picking the gaps quite easily at the moment. Harshit drops one short and de Kock whacks it way into the stands over mid-wicket for SIX!  Shoddy from Harshit as he drops one in de Kock’s swinging arc once again. He pays the price by conceding another SIX as Lucknow completes a fruitful PowerPlay.

Harshit up for his first over

LSG 49/1 in 5 overs: Roy slides one down leg and de Kock sweeps it across square leg for FOUR. A single to follow. Anukul tosses one wide and Hooda nonchalantly lofts the ball over extra cover for another FOUR.

Anukul Roy into the attack

LSG 37/1 in 4 overs: Bang! Hooda picks up the length quickly to slam Narine over long-on for a massive SIX.  de Kock and Hooda keep themselves busy with a slew of singles.

Narine replaces Mavi

LSG 29/1 in 3 overs: Southee pumps one short and de Kock clobbers it over mid-wicket for another FOUR. LSG is not allowing KKR to settle after KL’s dismissal with this counter-punch. Colossal! QDK in his element with a stupendous pull off the hips for a beautiful SIX over square-leg. The sound off the bat, simply superb. Southee comes around the wicket. Another loosener on the off-stump and de Kock waltzes it through cover for another FOUR. 17 runs from the over as de Kock retains strike with a single.

LSG 12/1 in 2 overs: Mavi fires in the blockhole to start against new man Deepak Hooda. Mavi touches a tad fuller outside-off and Hooda crashes it through cover for FOUR. Gorgeous! Hooda unleashes another fiery lofted drive over cover for FOUR. Mavi errs by tossing the ball in the slot once again.

Shivam Mavi from the opposite end

LSG 2/1 in 1 over: Southee begins with a gentle in-swinger on length to de Kock who leans forward for a solid push. Three dots as Southee enforces a tight line to start with. Short and de Kock gets a bottom-edge off the pull over mid-wicket for two runs.  Mix-up, and is that a runout? Southee brings one in again and de Kock pushes it to cover and sets off on a single but sends his skipper back mid-way. Iyer with a good pick-up throw at the non-striker’s end and seems like Rahul is short of his crease. OUT! The replays confirm Rahul is well short of the line and has to depart without facing a ball.  KL Rahul run out (Iyer) 0 (0b)

Tim Southee with the new ball. KKR will sorely miss the services of Umesh Yadav tonight.

KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock walk out to the middle.

Action begins in Pune.

Lucknow Super Giants XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), K. L. Rahul (c), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Aaron Finch, Baba Indrajith(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Harshit Rana

Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are at the centre for the toss.

TOSS coming up…

PITCH REPORT from Deep Dasgupta: Game number 11 here on pitch number six. The average score on this used surface is 170. The two previous games (on the pitch) were played in the first half but the spinners have played a bigger role as the tournament has progressed. There has been more help when the spinners have bowled slower, less than 90kph. The grass has been shaved off, not much grass left and that has exposed the top soil. It is nice and hard but a bit abrasive. It is going to help the spinners a lot more especially with dew not being a factor.

6-00PM IST: FORM GUIDE (recent matches first)

Kolkata – WLLLL; Lucknow – WWWLW

5-45PM IST: A fine gesture from the Super Giants on the eve of Mother’s Day.

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Sanju Samson and the burden of perception, amid improved numbers

MATCH PREVIEW

Lucknow Super Giants is a step away from booking a berth in the Indian Premier League playoffs in its debut season. In contrast, Kolkata Knight Riders is a step away from joining five-time champion Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings from being eliminated from the race for the playoffs.

The Super Giants have lost a solitary game in its last five outings whereas the win against Rajasthan Royals in its last game was the Knight Riders’ first in five games. With its back against the wall, it will be interesting to see if the Knight Riders put on yet another impressive performance to repeat their last year’s feat of a late surge in the tournament.

The Knight Riders, like the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings, have struggled to find the right team combination. It reflects in the fact that they have used a whopping 20 players in 10 games so far.

No solid opening pair

Unlike the other two stalwarts, captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Brendon McCullum haven’t yet found a reliable opening combination. They have tried out five combinations so far but none of them has been able to stitch together a partnership of 50. Knight Riders’ opening average of 14.40 is the lowest among 10 teams.

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As a result, the Knight Riders have consistently had an underwhelming Powerplay with the willow. Its scoring rate of 6.76 runs is the lowest in the Powerplay, while it has lost the most wickets – 20 – in the first six overs. On the other hand, Lucknow captain K. L. Rahul’s tally at the top is double the combined tally of all of KKR openers.

And with an on-song Lucknow pace attack, the Knight Riders top order will have its task cut out yet again. Can the middle-order be its saviour yet again?

– Amol Karhadkar