IPL 2022 KKR vs GT Preview - The Knight Riders just can't shake the curse of the opening game hundred

Key match stats KKR vs GT

Pitch Stats – DY Patil Stadium

Average first innings score: 173
Average first innings winning score: 190
Average powerplay score: 45
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 46% / 50%

Team form KKR vs GT

KKR – LLLWW
GT – WWLWW
Recent meetings: DC won by 33 runs, RR won by 3 wickets

KKR vs GT Preview

This match represents the halfway point of the round robin stage of this year's IPL and it'd be fair to say that we've already seen plenty of drama and excitement in 2022 including during the last matches played by both these teams.

For KKR, their batsmen simply cannot get that elusive three figure score that has only been made once by a player wearing purple and that was way back in 2008 when now coach of the Knight Riders, Brendon McCullum achieved it in what was the very first game of the IPL full stop!

Had Shreyas Iyer equalled his coach's achievement against Rajasthan on Tuesday then you'd imagine that KKR would have stormed to victory but his dismissal sparked a collapse that lead to a third straight defeat for a side that had started the tournament very brightly.

KKR's problems can be summed up in 2 basic observations. Firstly, they're not scoring enough first innings runs and secondly a few of their bowlers are proving far too expensive.

The below table shows the first innings scores from their previous 3 games (all defeats) and how they've been behind the game at the change of innings mark whether batting or bowling first. In a league as competitive as the IPL you can't give sides a 30 run head start and expect to win many games!

Fixture	Venue	Team batting first	First innings score	Dif vs ave, score for venue
RR vs KKR	Brabourne	RR	217	+31
SRH vs KKR	Brabourne	KKR	175	-11
DC vs KKR	Brabourne	DC	215	+29

Of course KKR will be very happy to see the back of the Brabourne Stadium where they've suffered those 3 defeats (they aren't scheduled to play there again in IPL 2022) and it's likely that their bowlers in particular will favour the pitch at the DY Patil Stadium where this match will take place.

As for Gujarat Titans they can't stop winning. Despite losing captain Hardik Pandya to injury and then finding themselves 16 for 3 in the 4th over, they managed to turn things around in spectacular fashion thanks to David Miller's unbeaten 94.

Losing Hardik would be a major blow for the Titans and India as they seek to add what many believe is the missing piece of the jigsaw (a fast bowling all-rounder) to their World Cup squad for the tournament that is due to begin in just 6 months time. The good news is that it doesn't appear that the injury is to Pandya's troublesome back and is instead a slight groin strain which isn't expected to keep him out for long.

Still, it does raise the question of how much more bowling the GT skipper can do especially considering his increased workload with the bat compared to recent seasons. Losing him as a bowling option would raise questions over the balance of the GT XI.

Year	Balls bowled	Balls faced
2022	111	167
2021	0	112
2020	0	157
2019	255	210

Pandya's contributions with both bat and ball over the last 3 and a half IPL seasons

KKR vs GT head to head

GT bowling vs KKR batting

In my last match preview for KKR, I suggested they might look at dropping Venkatesh Iyer down the order to see if he can rediscover some form after a poor start to IPL 2022.

The solution that KKR have come up with was to promote Sunil Narine as a pinch hitter, a move that has in years gone by has come off with spectacular results but not so much recently...

Year	Powerplay Runs	Strike Rate
2017	222	174.8
2018	282	198.6
2019	119	172.5
2020	27	87.1
2021	4	57.1

Sunil Narine powerplay runs and strike rate in the IPL by year

In fact, since those heady days back in 2017/18 when he and Chris Lynn put on a few famous partnerships at the top of the innings, Narine has been somewhat worked out as a pinch hitter. If he does open again here today expect the likes of Ferguson and Shami to go hard and short at him from the off with the potential sucker punch of a full straight ball once they've got him backing away to somewhere close to the square leg umpire!

If I were a KKR fan I wouldn't be too disappointed if Narine goes early for no other reason than it would bring Shreyas Iyer to the crease who has looked in terrific touch. In fact, you could question why they don't simply open the batting with him especially given how positive he's been in the powerplay this season. Of batsmen who have faced more than 10 overs in the powerplay this season, only Prithi Shaw (powerplay S/R 171.4) is scoring more quickly than Shreyas while the field restrictions are in place.

Shreyas Iyer powerplay stats IPL 2022

While plenty of focus will fall on the exploits of Gujrat's finishers with the bat, their bowlers are also doing a mighty fine job with the ball in hand during the final 5 overs. At present their collective economy rate at the death is just 8.2 an over which is 1.5 runs less per over than any other franchise in IPL 2022!

KKR's big finisher in more ways than one is of course Dre Russell and he'll be up against 2 of the most economical death overs bowlers in IPL 2022 in the form of Mohammed Shami (econ 7.6 at the death) and Rashid Khan (econ 6.2 at the death). His record against Shami is very strong but not so much against Rashid Khan so expect GT to keep an over from the Afghan leggie up their sleeve until Russell strides to the crease.

Shami and Rashid Khan T20 head to heads vs Russell

KKR bowling vs GT batting

Despite their lofty place in the league table, Gujarat's top order has struggled with any kind of consistency and Matthew Wade paid the price for his poor form (68 runs in 5 innings) by being dropped for their previous match against CSK.

In came the experienced Wriddhiman Saha who didn't fair much better although he did have the added pressure of seeing his batting partners disappear at a rate of knots while he was at the crease. The good news for him and GT is that he has an excellent record against Umesh Yadav whose 6 powerplay wickets for KKR were a crucial part of their early season form.

Umesh Yadav vs Saha T20 head to head

With those powerplay wickets having dried up and with Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy struggling to exert any kind of control then this once excellent looking KKR attack is beginning to struggle.

The one constant for them has been the economy provided by Sunil Narine but with his fellow bowlers going around the park, sides don't need to take risks against the West Indian safe in the knowledge that they can make it up against the remainder of KKR's bowlers.

As noted above, Chakravarthy might well find this surface more to his liking than the ones at the Brabourne. In the match between CSK and MI last night, the pitch was drier and provided obvious turn almost from ball one for the likes of Mitch Santner who is not renowned for ripping it.

Saha and Gill combined T20 records vs right-arm wrist spin

If Chakravarty can get it going then he could pose a problem for a few of these GT batsmen who have less than spectacular records against wrist spin, including Gujarat's new opening pair of Gill and Saha. It wouldn't surprise me to see him bowl very early in the innings in this match.

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free