Kolkata Knight Riders are set to host Chennai Super Kings in match 57 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, 7 May 2025. (Full Coverage | Schedule | Points Table)
The Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR are coming after winning their last match by a close margin of one run against the Rajasthan Royals at the same venue. Vaibhav Arora's yorker delivery on the last ball won the match for them.
MS Dhoni's CSK are already out of the race for the playoffs and currently stand at the bottom of the points table. They are coming after a close two-run defeat in their last game against RCB.
CSK will try to win the match and improve their position in the points table, whereas KKR desperately need a big win to stay alive in the race for the playoffs.
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Chennai Super Kings - Full Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Spencer Johnson
Chennai Super Kings: Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Deepak Hooda, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi
As KKR are preparing to take on CSK, let's take a look at the key player battles for the match
1. Sunil Narine Vs Khaleel Ahmed
Sunil Narine comes to open the batting for Kolkata Knight Riders and likes to score runs at a good strike rate and collect runs in the powerplay. He has not played any impactful knocks this season, but he can go berserk against CSK bowlers. Khaleel Ahmed, who comes to bowl in the powerplay, will try to dismiss Narine as early as possible with his slower deliveries. The left-arm seamer has enough arsenal to counter Narine's attack in Kolkata.
2. Dewald Brevis Vs Varun Chakravarthy
Dewald Brevis has joined very late for CSK, but he has shown his impact with a couple of innings this season. He likes to score big runs in the middle overs and punishes spinners and seamers equally. He may pose a threat to KKR, but they have Varun Chakravarthy, who can bamboozle him with his spin wizardry.
3. Andre Russell Vs Sam Curran
Andre Russell will enter the game with an unbeaten half-century. He is known for his ability to bat at a high strike rate during the death overs, making him a challenging opponent to handle. However, Sam Curran will look to counter him with his varied deliveries. The intriguing aspect of this matchup is that it can go both ways; both players are capable all-rounders who excel at bowling and batting in the final overs.
