ms dhoni gautam gambhir
MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir are former India teammates Getty

Rising Pune Supergiants take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 20th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on 24 April (Sunday).

Where to watch live

Match starts at 3.30pm BST/8pm IST. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 5 and Sky Sports 5 HD in the UK. Set Max, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD will telecast it live in India. Click here for the live streaming link.

Overview

Struggling Rising Pune Supergiants take on Kolkata Knight Riders in what is a very important game at Pune on 24 April (Sunday). The Pune outfit started brightly in their first outing in the IPL but have since struggled losing three matches on the trot. Their skipper MS Dhoni has not found himself in such a situation in the last seven seasons of the Premier League, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to such a slump.

Supergiants are currently in seventh place in the points table with just one win from four games, and need a victory here to make sure they stay in the running for a place in the play-offs. Kevin Pietersen, who injured his calf while batting during their game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, is ruled out, which may see Mitchell Marsh replacing him in the playing XI.

Table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders are probably the most in-form team of the tournament and come into this game after registering two back-to-back victories. Openers Robin Uthappa and skipper Gautam Gambhir have looked unstoppable; Gambhir in particular has played with such elegance and grace that it is surprising he does not figure in the plans of Team India's selectors.

Kolkata's bowling has always been their strong point and the bowlers have fired so far. In Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel, Brad Hogg, Piyush Chawla and Shakib Al Hasan, they have the strongest bowling line-up in the IPL and it is this that has given them an added advantage and variety. They are expected to play the same team that beat Kings XI Punjab so comprehensively on 19 April.

Prediction

Kolkata Knight Riders to win

Betting odds (betfair)

  • Rising Pune Supergiants to win: 10/11
  • Kolkata Knight Riders to win: 5/6

Team news

Rising Pune Supergiants

Possible XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Mitchell Marsh, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, R Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, M Ashwin, Ishant Sharma

Kolkata Knight Riders

Possible XI: Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir (c), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav.