Kolkata vs. Bangalore, IPL: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Eden Gardens on Saturday. It’s Bangalore’s opening match while it’s the second outing for the defending champions.

Date: Saturday, April 11

Time: 8 p.m. local/3:30 p.m. BST

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Weather: The news on the weather front is not too good. According to AccuWeather.com, there is an afternoon storm forecast. It's going to be hot and humid either way but players and fans will be hoping the storm is a passing one.

TV Info and Live Stream: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN(UAE) SkyTV ( New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omini (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Overview:

If there is one thing Kolkata can take from their opening win over Mumbai, it’s that they can survive under pressure thanks to their batsmen. After a disappointing bowling display where KKR managed to take just three wickets, their batsmen saw them home with relative ease.

The bad news is that their bowling line-up will now have to face Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle on a surface which clearly serves the batsmen more than it does the bowlers.

Add to that the fact that World Cup superstar bowler Mitchell Starc is also lurking in Bangalore’s midst and you have a recipe for a pretty tough challenge for the defending champs. Fortunately for KKR, Starc will miss the first few weeks of the tournament through injury, so this game will be all about the the batsmen. 

On paper, Bangalore are one of the most impressive teams. They consist of not just one or two match-winners but four players who can take the game away from the opposition at any time in any discipline. Bangalore have a real chance to move away from being the bridesmaid and finally being the bride this year and a winning start over the trophy holders is the ideal way to send a message to the other teams.

The two teams have a pretty even head-to-head record with KKR just edging out RCB with eight wins to six in 14 meetings. But KKR's Achilles' heel is definitely Gayle, who has notched up 451 runs at an average of 56.38 against them. If the weather plays along, it should be one seriously entertaining match.

Key players:

Kolkata

Morne Morkel was one of KKR's most impressive players in their opening fixture. His captain used him well, bowling all his overs out up front. Against the behemoth batting line-up of RCB, the home team will need him to come to the party.

Bangalore

AB de Villiers has played some of the most mind-blowing innings in one-day cricket in recent months and against a weak bowling line-up, he has license to thrill. 

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Pat Cummins, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell, Veer Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, James Neesham, Brad Hogg, Sumit Narwal, Sheldon Jackson, Aditya Garhwal, Kishan Cariappa, Vaibhav Rawal

Royal Challengers Bangalore:  Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Harshal Patel, Vijay Zol, Abu Nechim, Sandeep Warrier, Yogesh Takawale, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rilee Rossouw, Iqbal Abdulla, Manvinder Bisla, Mandeep Singh, Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Darren Sammy, Sean Abbott, Adam Milne, David Wiese, Sarfaraz Khan, Jalaj Saxena, Shishir Bhavane