Can KKR and Titans produce another humdinger at high-scoring Eden?
All three matches at the venue so far have produced 200-plus first-innings totals, so expect more fireworks
Big picture: Will we witness Rinku magic again?
There isn't a lot to talk about when talking about this game, is there? Just kidding. Where my Rinku fans at?
Form guide
Gujarat Titans: WWLWL (Last five matches, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLLL
Team news
KKR's Litton Das left the IPL on Friday to attend to a medical emergency in his family in Bangladesh.
Toss and Impact Player strategy
Kolkata has not been kind to fast bowlers, so Titans, who have barely had to use Rahul Tewatia's legspin, might decide to give him a proper run here. They're also likely to swap Shubman Gill for Josh Little or Alzarri Joseph when they have to bring in their Impact Player.
Stats that matter
- Andre Russell is averaging 18 - his second-lowest in an IPL season - with five single-digit scores in eight innings. Not the best time to come up against Rashid Khan, who has dismissed him five times in 39 balls for 54 runs in T20 cricket.
- 3.6 vs 13.8. Those are Rinku Singh's balls-per-boundary numbers against pace and spin this season. So if you're the Titans captain, do the right thing. Don't give him pace.
- Shubman Gill has an average of 59.2 and a strike rate of 143 against spin since IPL 2022. His batting deep into the innings might enable Titans to mitigate KKR's mystery spin threat.
- Though right now one of them is not feeling so great. Sunil Narine has an economy rate of 8.9 in IPL 2023. Never in the history of this tournament has he been so expensive. Also, he hasn't picked up a wicket for five matches straight. That's another first for him in the IPL.
- Hardik Pandya has a strike rate of 102 against pace this season. This is the second-lowest among all batters who have faced at least 50 balls.
Pitch and conditions
Eden Gardens, after hosting three matches in this year's IPL, has produced an average first-innings score of 222. It is the highest out of all the grounds on show in the tournament. So expect a few runs. Spin has offered a bit of respite, though - 21 wickets at an economy rate of 8.7 (versus 10.9 for pace) and a strike rate of 15.6, which is another season-topping metric among the grounds this IPL.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo