Indian T20 League 2023

KOL vs CHE, 33rd Match

Preview

The 33rd match of the Indian T20 League will be played between the Kolkata and the Chennai side. The iconic Eden Garden s in Kolkata will host the game on Sunday, April 23, at 7:30 PM. The home side will enter this fixture with three straight losses in nearly one-sided contests. The MS Dhoni-led side have demonstrated the consistency they are known for and will be riding high on confidence when they face Kolkata on Sunday. Although Nitish Rana and co. are struggling presently, thus Chennai will have an upper hand in this game to fetch another win, yet this time at the ‘City of Joy’. 

The lack of consistent performance from both departments has been a problem for the franchise this season. Their top-order batters have failed to get a good start and there are frequent changes in their lineup which is resisting them from settling as a combined Playing XI. The middle order of Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana has scored most of the runs this year. Dependable players like Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine have failed to perform at their best. The pace bowling department is literally non-existent in the Kolkata squad which makes them forcefully depend only on spinners. Also, their degrading form of spin bowlers has cost them the matches. 

On the other side, the four times champions Chennai are in the seventh heaven and will have to deliver the same performance as they have done in the previous two matches. Their opening batters, Conway and Gaikwad are consistent batters who are at their best forms. Also, the return of Rayudu and Rahane is the best news for Chennai in the middle orders. The way Dhoni uses his bowlers is commendable, talented youngsters like Matheesha Pathirana and Akash Singh are the pillar of Chennai’s bowling. Jadeja is also contributing with both the bat and the ball reflecting his skills as an ideal all-rounder choice.

Match Details

Match: KOL vs CHE, 33rd Match, IND T20 League 2023

Date: Sunday, April 23, 2023

Time: 07:30 PM

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Pitch and Weather Report

The iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata is one of the biggest venues in India with deep boundaries. It provides a flat wicket and allows batters to play their strokes on the up. There will be some assistance for the fast bowlers in the early stages of the game. Spin bowlers can prove handy during the middle overs and the big boundaries will offer them extra protection to experiment with their lines and lengths. 

The weather projection for Kolkata is good for a game of cricket. There is a  slight chance of rain but we are expecting a full match without any interference. The average high temperature in April is around 34°C, while the average low temperature is around 26°C.

KOL vs CHE Squads

KOL: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan, David Wiese, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Aarya Desai, Jason Roy, Litton Das (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Mandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.

CHE: Ambati Rayudu, Dwaine Pretorius, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, RS Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Matheesha Pathirana.

KOL vs CHE Probable Playing XIs

KOL: Jason Roy, Litton Das (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Mandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.

CHE: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Matheesha Pathirana.

Match Prediction

In the history of India’s biggest cricket tournament, the Chennai side have clashed with Kolkata, a total of 27 times. Out of those, Dhoni and Co always enjoyed an upper hand as they won 17 matches and Kolkata under different captains won only 9 games. Also, this season, Kolkata is not in a good form which makes us realise that until a revolt from their players, there is very little chance of Kolkata winning in front of Chennai in the next fixture.

Top Fantasy Picks

Jason Roy: The English batter who was roped in as a replacement for Shakib Al Hasan is indeed a fierce opening batter, having scored 43 runs in the last game versus Delhi. 

Varun Chakravarthy: The mystery spinner is coming into this match after picking 2 wickets, having an economy rate of 4.25 in the last match.

Devon Conway: He is already into the Orange Cap race being the most consistent batter in the Indian T20 League 2023. He also scored a magnificent half-century in the last match. In his 6 games this season, Conway has registered 258 runs.

Ravindra Jadeja: India’s prime all-rounder picked up 3 wickets in the last game. He has also contributed with the bat in this league and will hopefully be one of the most valuable assets for Chennai in the 33rd match against Kolkata.

Risky Captaincy Choice

Andre Russell hit 3 sixes in the last over to take his side to a decent score in the last match against Delhi, although losing the game at Delhi chased the total in 19.2 overs. His comeback will be the most positive point for Kolkata and hopefully, we are going to witness some of that muscle power at the Eden versus Chennai on Sunday. He always fascinates fans with his all-round match-winning performances for the Kolkata side, He made 335 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 174.47 and also picked 17 wickets at an average of 16.35 during the last season of the tournament. 

Suggested Playing XI Real11 Fantasy Cricket

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