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KKR vs PBKS Match Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, 53rd Match
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KKR vs PBKS Match Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders will go against Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens, Kolkata Stadium, on May 8, 2023.
Kolkata Knight Riders kept themselves in contention to qualify for the Indian Premier League after winning the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 runs. It was a horrific start for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they were 3 down on 35 runs, but after that, team captain Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh built up and 50+ run partnership to take their team to a good total score of 171.
Andre Russell also contributed 24 runs in just 15 balls which helped the Kolkata Knight Riders team to reach the score, and then they were able to defend the total. Russell also took 1 wicket, but it was Shardul Thakur and Vaibhav Arora who bought KKR back into the game when they took 2 wickets each.
Kolkata Knight Riders are still in the playoff race, and the last win will give them a boost for the next match, which is against the Punjab Kings, whom they won the first match of the IPL season 2023 in the first encounter.
Punjab Kings had a tough previous match result to gulp in after Mumbai Indians beat them by 6 wickets. Batting first, Punjab King’s batters just hit away Mumbai Bowler’s delivery out of the park and posted a total of 214 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, but then comes the Mumbai Indians invincibles who just won the match before 6 balls in their hand.
Arshdeep Singh conceded the most runs (66) in his 3.5 overs spell. It was just an exhibition of power-hitting contests from both sides, batters, and graveyards for the bowlers of both teams. The way Liam Livingstone hit 3 sixes in Jofra Archer’s bowling was mind-blowing hitting by him. After his match, he even said that his international teammate Jofra Archer knew what he didn’t like.
It felt like a good pitch, playing spin was quite difficult. I tried to ensure that we do not lose wickets in clumps, it’s a good score. It’s a good pitch, so we will have to bowl well. It’s nice to get going. I had lunch with Archer today and he said he was going to come after me. He (Archer) knows what I don’t like. Playing spin was a bit harder, but I picked by bowlers pretty well today.
Liam Livingstone said after the Punjab Kings innings.
It will be an exciting encounter between the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings. Both teams need a point to be in the playoff race, and the one who loses this match will most probably be out of the IPL playoff contention.
KKR vs PBKS: Head-to-Head Record
| Match Played | 30 matches |
| Punjab Kings Won | 11 times |
| Kolkata Knight Riders Won | 20 times |
The last game between these two sides was a rain-affected match in which Punjab Kings won the match by 7 runs under DLS Method. Punjab won 3 out of the last 5 matches against the Punjab side.
Punjab Kings batter enjoyed their last match against the Kolkata side as they scored 191 runs in 20 overs, and the most amazing thing was all batsmen scored in that match. Arshdeep Singh bowled really well in the last match as he took 3 wickets in his 3-over spell.
KKR vs PBKS: Pitch Report of Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Stats in the table from the last 14 IPL matches played at Eden Garden, Kolkata
| Match Played | 14 |
| Batting first won | 9 |
| Batting second won | 5 |
| Average 1st innings score | 183 |
| Pace bowlers took | 109 wickets |
| Spiner bowlers took | 61 wickets |
The Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata has a neutral surface and has recently favored batsmen and Spinners. In the 2019 IPL season, Kolkata Knight Riders’ score versus Mumbai Indians was the highest on this particular pitch. The surface will be ideal for batsmen, and there will be dew in the batting second, making chasing easier and defending harder for bowlers who struggle to grasp the ball. The scoring on this ground is also good, as seen in the last match when Chennai Super Kings posted the highest team total of 235 runs in the Indian Premier League 2023.
The last match on this pitch was between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans, in which the pitch was neutral, but a bit more favor was for the batters as Gujarat Titans were able to chase down 179 runs in just 17.5 overs. However, the bowling from the Kolkata Knight Riders’ side was poor.
There was a bit of turn seen in the match when Noor Ahmad was bowling, but when the due came, it became hard for the bowlers to grip the ball well. Batsman found it easy to play their shots while chasing, which was one reason why the Gujarat Titans batter could easily chase down a good total.
Team Preview of Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders are in the 8th spot in the points table with 8 points in hand, but from now on, they will have or die match in every fixture because if they lose any of them, then their playoff opportunity will be gone.
Kolkata Knight Riders showed the intent to win in their previous match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad after being on the back foot in the opening session of the match. Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh brought their team back into match winnings contention, which they later did.
Kolkata team’s opening players are not able to give them a decent 50+ partnership in the whole season which makes situations hard for the middle-order batter who doesn’t get the time to settle down because Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana need some balls to settle down, so they start their hitting showcase.
Nitish Rana was happy with the bowling department of the Kolkata Knight Riders and also with the squad but also said that they all need to improve.
In the middle we bowled a few loose overs and took a gamble with Shardul and Vaibhav and they managed to get both set batters and that’s how we made a comeback in this game. We had to get them out because if they bat till the end, then surely the game would have gone out of our reach. I had a doubt if I had to go with spinner/pacer and backed my spinner to do the job. I awlays see who is the best spinner on the game and that’s how I decide whom to back on the given day.
Nitish Rana said in the post match interview.
Vaibhav Arora did a pretty good job for the side this time because Kolkata Knight Riders were struggling with their pace bowling department and mostly relied on the spin bowlers, but in the last match, pace bowlers did quite well, and the team will be hoping to see the same performance in the next match against the Punjab Kings who have great batting lineup.
Nitish Rana’s decision has been surprising because even in the last match, he gave Sunil Narine only overs which was a bit of a surprise because he has been their best bowler.
Team Preview of Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings had a tough match in their previous game against the Mumbai Indians, who chased down runs in just 18.5 overs, which shows how poor Punjab bowlers performed. They are right now at the 10th spot and still in the race to qualify for the playoffs.
Their next match is against the team whom they defeated comfortably in the last match they played on April 1st, 2023, in IPL, which was a rain-affected match, but Punjab had full control over the match. The bowling department needs to improve itself and give a better performance in the next match against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
There might be a few changes in the bowling lineup of the Punjab Kings, but right now, they are doing fine even if they don’t change anyone. Rishi Dhawan and Nathan Ellis were the only ones who bowled well in the last match.
The great news for the Punjab Kings side is that Liam Livingstone is back in his full flow, and in the last match, he just wacked out the Mumbai Indians bowlers, especially his own international teammate Jofra Archer.
Liam Livingstone scored an amazing 82 runs in just 42 balls with a 195 strike rate, and the three sixes he hit against the Archer were one to watch for all the batters around the world.
Jitesh Sharma has been amazing this season for the Punjab Kings after consistently hitting in most matches. He has all the skills needed to be a great finisher and can be one of the players to be picked for the Indian Cricket team for the T20 format in the near future. He scored 49 runs in 27 balls, striking down balls with an 181 strike rate. He is the second-highest run scorer of the team with 239 runs in 10 matches; even though he gets few balls to face, but he can be tested as an opener.
Shikhar Dhawan was not happy with his bowler, which he said in the post-match presentation.
“Even to Surya, we couldn’t get our lines, we should have been more tight. It was a good wicket and change of pace will work a lot and I think Nathan bowled really well and other bowlers didn’t step up today.
“Thought of bringing the spinners back but there was dew and thought it is tough to contain the batters. I backed my main bowlers and expected them to deliver and unfortunately they couldn’t deliver,”
Shikhar Dhawan said in the Post Match Presentation.
In the next match, the bowlers of the Punjab need to execute their plan better.
KKR vs PBKS Probable Playing XIs:
Probable Lineup of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
N Jagadeesan(w), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Vaibhav Arora, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Probable Lineup of Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan(c), Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Impact Players who can come to the match of KKR vs PBKS
Prabhsimran Singh can replace Nathan Ellis in the match, and For the Kolkata Knight Riders, Jason Roy will come as an impact player for Suyash Sharma.
