Preview

Texas Super Kings will look to build on their winning start when they take on the Los Angeles Knight Riders, who began their 2025 season with a defeat. The Super Kings edged out MI New York by only three runs after defending 185, and while it was a narrow win, it gives them early momentum and confidence. The Knight Riders, on the other hand, might want to draw encouragement from their opening game last season, when they began their campaign with a victory over the Super Kings.

Among the positives for the Super Kings were Devon Conway's solid start in the previous game - a 44-ball 65 - and Calvin Savage's strong finish, an unbeaten 53 off 34. However, they'll be eager to address the lack of contributions in the middle order. While skipper Faf du Plessis got a start, he couldn't build on it, and the likes of Saiteja Mukkamalla, Daryl Mitchell and Donovan Ferreira failed to get going. On the bowling front, though, there were plenty of positives. Adam Milne (3 for 22) and Noor Ahmad (1 for 33) delivered key strikes, while Mitchell played a crucial role in the field with two run outs and, despite an expensive spell, held his nerve to defend eight runs in a tense final over.

Meanwhile, the Knight Riders will be eager to regroup quickly. As the only team to have missed out on the playoffs in both previous editions, they'll be keen to turn that record around. Unmukt Chand's fifty and Matthew Tromp's 41 were the best efforts with the bat for LAKR in the previous game but they lost wickets regularly in pursuit of 220 against San Francisco Unicorns and fell well short in the end. On a batting friendly wicket, there wasn't much the bowlers could do and Ali Khan was especially impressive with his 2 for 34 from four overs. The rest of the bowlers, including skipper Sunil Narine, will want to tighten it up. But it was the batting that let them down, with failures for star players like Alex Hales, Andre Fletcher and Andre Russell. The Knight Riders will now be hoping to bounce back strongly and get their first points on the board.

When: LAKR vs TSK, Sunday, June 15 at 2:00 PM Local Time

Where: Oakland Coliseum, California

What to expect: In the four matches played at this venue, teams batting first have won three times and 200-plus first-innings totals have been achieved twice, including SFU's 269 in the first game. Another batting friendly pitch is likely to be on offer and opting to bat might be on the top of the captains' minds.

Team news:

Los Angeles Knight Riders: With the likes of Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder yet to join the team as they are in Ireland currently on national duty, LAKR might stick to the same team.

Probable XI: Alex Hales, Andre Fletcher, Unmukt Chand (wk), Nitish Kumar, Matthew Tromp, Andre Russell, Saif Badar, Sunil Narine (c), Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Tanveer Sangha

Texas Super Kings: The TSK side could also go in with an unchanged XI.

Probable XI: Faf du Plessis (c), Devon Conway (wk), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Daryl Mitchell, Milind Kumar, Donovan Ferreira, Calvin Savage, Mohammad Mohsin, Adam Milne, Noor Ahmad, Zia-ul-Haq

Squads:

Texas Super Kings Squad: Faf du Plessis(c), Devon Conway(w), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Daryl Mitchell, Milind Kumar, Donovan Ferreira, Calvin Savage, Mohammad Mohsin, Adam Milne, Noor Ahmad, Zia-ul-Haq, Joshua Tromp, Marcus Stoinis, Shubham Ranjane, Smit Patel, Stephen Wing, Nandre Burger, Adam Khan

Los Angeles Knight Riders Squad: Andre Fletcher, Alex Hales, Unmukt Chand(w), Nitish Kumar, Matthew Tromp, Andre Russell, Saif Badar, Sunil Narine(c), Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Tanveer Sangha, Corne Dry, Spencer Johnson, Dominic Drakes, Karthik Gattepalli, Adithya Ganesh