Struggling Kolkata must beat Punjab in Indore

Dinesh Karthik

Deflated after a crushing defeat against Mumbai in the previous encounter, Kolkata will be aiming to pick up the pieces when they face Punjab on Saturday. It is not easy to recover quickly if the margin of defeat is as huge as 102 runs but Kolkata do not have the luxury of slipping further against a team that has one of the most formidable batting line-ups in this edition of the league.

With 10 points from 11 games, today's game is a must-win encounter for Dinesh Karthik and his men if they want to keep their playoff chances alive. For Punjab, the game against Rajasthan turned out to be a proverbial banana peel as they lost by 15 runs chasing a modest target of 159. With 12 points from 10 games, KXIP are in a tricky situation.

A win will take them closer to playoffs but a defeat will mean that Mumbai will be breathing down their neck. For KXIP, KL Rahul with 471 runs (from 10 games) have had a fabulous season so far while Chris Gayle (311 from seven games) has also been in imperious form. Karun Nair (243 runs in 10 games) has had a decent run so far but the biggest disappointment has been Mayank Agarwal (118 runs in 9 matches).

Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever