Gujarat Titans (GT) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head into their IPL 2026 encounter at Eden Gardens in sharply contrasting form and momentum. While GT are riding a dominant run, KKR are battling to keep their playoff hopes alive. Gujarat Titans on five-match winning streak GT are currently enjoying a strong phase in the tournament, having registered five consecutive wins. The Shubman Gill-led side are level with Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the top of the points table, separated only by net run rate. A win in this match would push GT ahead in the race for a top-two finish. Their success has been driven by a balanced squad, featuring a strong top order and a potent bowling attack led by Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada, who recently played a key role in dismantling Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting lineup.Eden Gardens pitch expected to favour battersThe Eden Gardens surface is expected to be a batting-friendly wicket, with the average first-innings score projected between 187 and 200 runs. Although the pitch has shown some sluggishness earlier this season, the fast outfield and short square boundaries are expected to favour stroke play.Kolkata weather forecast: hot and humid conditionsKolkata is expected to have clear weather conditions for the match with almost no chance of rain. Despite thunderstorms on Friday evening, conditions have improved for the weekend.However, humidity levels are expected to remain high at around 70–80%, with the “feels like” temperature likely reaching around 42°C during the first innings. KKR struggling despite mid-season recovery Defending champions KKR have had a mixed campaign. After managing just one point from their first six matches due to weather interruptions and poor form, they revived their season with four consecutive wins. However, their momentum was halted by a defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, leaving them in a difficult position. KKR now need to win their remaining matches while also depending on other results to stay in contention for the playoffs.Squads Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (w), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Tim Seifert, Varun Chakaravarthy, Blessing Muzarabani, Matheesha Pathirana, Umran Malik, Rahul Tripathi, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Daksh Kamra. Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (w), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Glenn Phillips, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Shahrukh Khan, Ashok Sharma, Luke Wood, Connor Esterhuizen, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar.