Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are raring to get their first win of IPL 2026a as they run into a seemingly resurgent Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), hosting them at the storied venue of the Eden Gardens on April 9, Thursday. While the Knight Riders eked out a point from the rain-washed fixture against the Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens, they are one of the only two teams yet to win a game this year.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants, preview
The Knight Riders could well have slid towards another defeat to the Punjab Kings had rain not interrupted the proceedings and eventually washed out the game. After Ajinkya Rahane elected to bat first, the three-time champions slumped to 25/2 in 3.4 overs. While Cameron Green looks likely to resume bowling, the Knight Riders desperately need runs from him as the Aussie all-rounder finds himself under pressure to justify the price tag of ₹25.20 crore. Eyes will also be on whether Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine are fit to play after missing the previous fixture.
Lucknow Super Giants pulled one back against the SunRisers Hyderabad with one ball to spare after losing to the Delhi Capitals. Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 68 will give him plenty of confidence ahead of the remaining league matches of the tournament. The bowling unit will also derive plenty of confidence as Mohammed Shami-led cartel tied down the SunRisers in knots in the first ten overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants head to head
Matches played: 6
LSG won: 4
KKR won: 2
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants probable XI
The only change that could come for the Knight Riders is Narine coming in for Rovman Powell. Narine seems to have recovered from the illness that kept him out of the game against the Punjab Kings. Chakravarthy is seemingly still recovering from the hand injury.
Kolkata Knight Riders XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rovman Powell/Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
The Super Giants are highly unlikely to tweak the XI that beat the SunRisers.
Lucknow Super Giants XI: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
