The surprise team of this year’s IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders will host the Chennai Super Kings in the eighth game of the tournament at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The Knight Riders (1/1 at Bet Fred) will go into the game with two wins under their belt in as many matches, and that is in stark contrast to their previous season’s performance. As compared to that, Chennai will still go into the game as favourites (10/11 at Boylesports), but their first game loss to Deccan Chargers seems to have exposed some of their bowling chinks and they will look to make some changes to that department.

Kolkata Knight Riders may have Chris Gayle (7/2 at Bet365 to be a part of the playing eleven and top-score in the game) back into the squad after he had been busy with the ODI series against Zimbabwe, but one gets the sense that he may still not play in the game. instead, the century partnership between Brad Hodge (7/2 at Bet365 to top-score for his side) and Manoj Tiwari (11/2 at Boylesports to be the best batsman) in the previous game could mean that the pair will continue to be a part, with Sourav Ganguly (9/2 at Blue Square to top-score for Kolkata) batting at the number three position.

However, it will be worthwhile to remember that in the first game, it was the pair of Owais Shah (6/1 at Bet365) and Angelo Mathews (9/1 at Ladbrokes, both to top-score for their side) had not only offered resistance in the middle order, but also allowed the Knight Riders a comeback win in the game. The pair could be the batsmen to watch out for.

Chennai is a reasonably strong batting line-up but without the bowling to boot, had struggled in the Deccan game. That said, the top-order batted quite differently from what their natural game is, under the pressure of a mounting asking rate, and they had to pay a price. Mathew Hayden (13/5 at Bet365 to top-score for his side) is best known for his brute power and for him to try cheeky shots was definitely not on, while Murali Vijay (5/1 at Coral to be the best batsman) has a class about him but he went for an expansive loft that castled him neck and crop.

Even Suresh Raina (4/1 at Bet Fred to top-score for his side) begins his innings with a tendency to accumulate and build and then goes for the big shots later in the knock. He smote a six as his first scoring shot and was then dismissed for nothing much, which said a lot about the frame of mind the Chennai batsmen were in. They will need to reassess the situation and try to play out the first few overs in their natural vein in order to give the likes of MS Dhoni (5/1 at 888Sport) and Albie Morkel (14/1 at Stan James to be the best batsman for his side) down the order, a chance to go after the bowling later in the innings.

Tips:
Favourites: Chennai Super Kings (10/11 at Boylesports)
Top Chennai batsman: Mathew Hayden (13/5 at Bet365)
Top Kolkata batsman: Sourav Ganguly (9/2 at Blue Square)