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Toss Kolkata Knight Riders chose to field v Perth Scorchers
In a must-win game for IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, Gautam Gambhir asked Perth Scorchers to bat with an eye on the overcast sky in Durban. Marcus North was happy to do so, saying the Kingsmead pitch was a "bat-first" wicket, but hoped that the expected rain would stay away.
In the first game of the evening in Durban between Titans and Auckland Aces, batsmen had struggled to time the ball as the innings progressed, with the dry pitch also taking some turn.
Knight Riders brought in Brett Lee for Shakib Al Hasan and compensated for the loss of the allrounder's left-arm spin by including Iqbal Abdulla in place of the medium-pacer Pradeep Sangwan. Debabrata Das also came in for Rajat Bhatia. Scorchers included Nathan Coulter-Nile in place of Ben Edmondson.
Knight Riders will become the first side to exit the tournament if they lose tonight.
Perth Scorchers: Herschelle Gibbs, Marcus North (capt), Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Simon Katich, Nathan Rimmington, Joe Mennie, Brad Hogg, Michael Beer, Nathan Coulter-Nile
Kolkata Knight Riders: Manvinder Bisla (wk), Gautam Gambhir (capt), Brendon McCullum, Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Yusuf Pathan, Iqbal Abdulla, Sunil Narine, L Balaji, Brett Lee
In a must-win game for IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, Gautam Gambhir asked Perth Scorchers to bat with an eye on the overcast sky in Durban. Marcus North was happy to do so, saying the Kingsmead pitch was a "bat-first" wicket, but hoped that the expected rain would stay away.
In the first game of the evening in Durban between Titans and Auckland Aces, batsmen had struggled to time the ball as the innings progressed, with the dry pitch also taking some turn.
Knight Riders brought in Brett Lee for Shakib Al Hasan and compensated for the loss of the allrounder's left-arm spin by including Iqbal Abdulla in place of the medium-pacer Pradeep Sangwan. Debabrata Das also came in for Rajat Bhatia. Scorchers included Nathan Coulter-Nile in place of Ben Edmondson.
Knight Riders will become the first side to exit the tournament if they lose tonight.
Perth Scorchers: Herschelle Gibbs, Marcus North (capt), Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Simon Katich, Nathan Rimmington, Joe Mennie, Brad Hogg, Michael Beer, Nathan Coulter-Nile
Kolkata Knight Riders: Manvinder Bisla (wk), Gautam Gambhir (capt), Brendon McCullum, Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Yusuf Pathan, Iqbal Abdulla, Sunil Narine, L Balaji, Brett Lee