Kolkata Knight Riders host Lucknow Super Giants in the 15th match of IPL 2026 at Eden Gardens on 9 April.
KKR earned a point in their most recent game after rain ended play, with their batting under pressure having lost two wickets inside four overs. Ajinkya Rahane is expected to open with Finn Allen, who has a strike rate of 229 across three games. Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been impressive, with two half-centuries and 110 runs at a strike rate above 169, and Rinku Singh has added useful scores. In the attack, Blessing Muzarabani took 4 for 41 last time, though Vaibhav Arora and Kartik Tyagi have been expensive.
Lucknow secured their first win of the season, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in the last over. Mohammed Shami took 2 for 9 from four overs and captain Rishabh Pant anchored the chase with an unbeaten 68 from 50 balls. Aiden Markram scored 45 in that game and will open with Mitchell Marsh. Nicholas Pooran has a strong record against KKR, having been named Player of the Match in both of LSG’s last two wins against them with unbeaten 87 and 58.
We pick Kolkata Knight Riders, with Pooran and Shami the players most likely to disrupt that.
