Balanced teams look to extend good work
Match facts
Wednesday, April 20, KolkataStart time 2000 (1430 GMT)
Big picture
The whipping boys of the previous three IPLs, Kolkata Knight Riders, have been dishing out some whipping of their own this year, winning three games out of their first four and assuming the top position in the early part of the tournament. Their next opponent, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, though, have built some momentum by winning two successive games and have become a welcome addition to the IPL.Kolkata will need to utilise home advantage, something they did admirably when they inserted Rajasthan Royals and bowled them out for 81. It was a cracker of a track that offered both bounce and movement, and if we get something similar, it will be fun to watch how the rich top orders of both the sides cope with it. Kolkata's Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan; and Kochi's Brendon McCullum, Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge promise a good contest on a testing pitch.
Team talk
Kolkata seem a settled unit, and wouldn't want to make any changes to the winning combination they seem to have found. Kochi have won both their games playing the same XI, and there aren't too many compelling reasons to tinker with the balance they have found.
In the spotlight
Brendon McCullum comes back to his former home ground to play his former team; a team with which he announced the IPL to the world with his 158 in the opening game of the inaugural season. The next season, though, brought him much pain as he led a failing unit. Don't be surprised if he comes to the Eden and makes a statement.Eoin Morgan, a prize acquisition in this form of the game, has had only one innings so far. That effort of his ended with a stumping off the bowling of Suresh Raina. If his chance does come this game, Morgan will want to do better.
Prime numbers
- RP Singh, with 52 wickets, is the highest wicket-taker in all IPL matches, even though he has got only one wicket in this season.
- Brad Hodge might be the highest run-scorer in T20 cricket, but in 23 IPL innings he has managed just 572 runs, a record he will want to correct.
The chatter
"With [Brett] Lee and Shakib [Al Hasan] in the team, and with [Lakshmipathy] Balaji bowling brilliantly we have a very good bowling attack. Hopefully we can bring more joy to the city in the matches to come."Gautam Gambhir promises more of the same to the city of joy
"I think we are heading in the right direction. I mean beating Mumbai and Chennai are two huge wins for us and we have got a lot of positives out of these two games."
Mahela Jayawardene is excited by his team's comeback
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo