Kolkata Knight Riders, who are out of form and short of ideas, will look to make sweeping changes as they bid for their first win of the 2026 IPL season against a confident Lucknow Supergiants at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.Much of the focus will be on Mohammad Shamihe played a brilliant spell of 2/9 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, dismissing Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head – a duo that had troubled KKR earlier. Shami’s seaming movement could once again expose KKR’s fragile top order amid expected favorable conditions.Push boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!KKR had struggled early in the previous match as well, slipping to 16/2 before rain forced Kings XI Punjab to crash out. Weather may still be a factor, although a late start may limit disruption.Apart from Shami, LSG’s bowling depth – including Prince Yadav and mystery spinner Digwish Rathi – also adds to the challenge. Their strong offensive dominance is already evident, having cut their opponents’ deficit to 26/4 twice this season.KKR’s batting remains a concern, with the opening combination of Ajinkya Rahane and Finn Allen yet to hit the ground running. There may be a reshuffle in the squad and the form of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy with the ball is another concern.LSG, meanwhile, will take confidence from Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 68 in the last game and be backed by the experience of top-order players Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram.
KKR vs LSG head-to-head confrontation
- Total games played: 6
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2
- Lucknow Supergiants: 4
KKR and LSG: Pitch Report
This match is likely to be played at the same venue where PBKS plays KKR. The track at Eden Gardens has largely favored the batsmen in recent times and that trend is unlikely to change. However, weather may again play a role.The weather was overcast on the eve of the game, with rain expected at sunset on game day. The meteorological department has issued an orange warning for Wednesday and Thursday, indicating a high likelihood of rain disruptions.
KKR vs LSG: Predicted line-up
Kolkata Knight Riders predicted XI: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.Impact Subs: Blessings to MuzarabaniLucknow Supergiants Predicted XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk, Capt), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, M Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh RathiImpact Sub: Prince Yadav
KKR vs LSG: Kolkata weather renew
There is a yellow warning for thunderstorms in the morning, with showers expected early in the day, with heavy cloud cover throughout. The maximum temperature is likely to be around 33°C. The good news is that skies are expected to clear overnight and temperatures will drop to around 23°C.Rain is expected until about noon, with the chance of precipitation falling from 49% at 12 noon to 0% at 7pm. As of now, no rain is expected during tonight’s game.
KKR vs LSG: Live broadcast details
The KKR vs LSG match will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the match will start at 7:30 pm IST. The match will be telecast on Star Sports Network and the live broadcast will be on JioHotstar.
KKR vs LSG team
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Blessing Muzarabani, Saurabh Dubey and Navdeep Saini.Lucknow Super Giants: Rhabh Pant (c), Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Notje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
