IPL match preview: Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants 

Unless they get a huge run-rate boost, win this match and other results go their way, it's highly unlikely the Knight Riders will secure a play-off berth in the 2023 IPL. They will need to wait for next season before again attempting to win the tournament a third time.

They will go into this match on the back of a confidence-boosting win over the Chennai Super Kings, though. KKR showed then that they can still mean business, even if plenty of critics are questioning how they deploy overseas personnel such as West Indians Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

Lucknow didn't have any wins to show for their last three matches before bouncing back for two wins in a row recently. This momentum has pushed them back into play-off contention - and a third on the trot here should book that spot in the next stage of the tournament.

The Super Giants are still doing it all without their captain KL Rahul, who has been ruled out of the entire tournament due to injury. All-rounder Krunal Pandya is proving a solid replacement as captain - and not letting the additional responsibility negatively affect his primary roles with bat and ball.

Kolkata and Lucknow's head-to-head history is brief. They've met twice and the Super Giants have triumphed on both occasions. 

Quinton de Kock's arrival into the Lucknow XI was delayed due to the form of Kyle Mayers at the top of the order. When Rahul got injured, the Super Giants found a way to get de Kock into the team. He has since repaid them with knocks of 70, 29 and 16.

Nitish Rana struggled to get going at the start of the tournament. The added responsibility of the captaincy in the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer seemed to be getting to him. His team has not won as often as he'd have liked, but Rana has put together a string of solid showings with the bat recently.

Lucknow should seal the play-off deal with a win here. Kolkata have threatened - and might do so again - but not enough to upend the Super Giants' push.