In their last game, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pipped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by the barest of margins. They will look to continue winning as they take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Eden Gardens in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Friday.
KKR have 10 points from seven matches and are currently placed 2nd in the points table. PBKS, on the other hand, are 9th with just two wins from their eight matches.
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The Knights are well-placed to qualify for the playoffs with the best net run rate among all the teams, whereas the Kings will need to win all their remaining games to even be in contention.
KKR and PBKS have faced off 32 times in the IPL, with the Knights having the clear upper hand – 21 wins. In their last five meetings, PBKS have managed to beat KKR twice.
KKR Team News
Most of the runs for KKR have been scored by their dynamic opening duo of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, with one of the two stepping up to score the big runs in the batting line-up.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi made a stunning debut with a fifty but has since failed to make good of his start. Skipper Shreyas Iyer is the side’s third-highest run-getter but his strike rate of 126.66 has caused concern. In the last game though he notched up his first fifty of the season – off just 36 too.
Venkatesh Iyer has not been able to score runs in the middle – with one fifty making up the most of his season’s total. Any of the trio of Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh have had to come in the deep and score the runs and that too fast.
On the bowling front, Narine, Russell and Harshit Rana have picked up nine wickets each. The Trinidadian spinner has been economical too, completing his quota of four overs in every match. Rana has the best strike rate, while Russell has the best average.
Even though Varun Chakaravarthy has seven wickets to name, he has been costly. The most runs conceded with the least wickets taken though has been Mitchell Starc, with the star Aussie failing so far to justify his record-breaking price tag.
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KKR Playing XI vs PBKS
Phil Salt (WK), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma (SUB)
PBKS Team News
Punjab Kings have played mostly thrillers so far and have come out victorious in just two. If luck would have been on their side, PBKS would have found themselves in the top half of the points table. Yet they are languishing near the bottom.
The fact that Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh are the side’s leading scorers may point to the problem for Punjab. Their star top-order batters – Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and even Rilee Rossouw – have just been able to make runs.
The absence of regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan has hampered them with Sam Curran bouncing around in the batting order has not helped either.
Their bowling has been far better though, especially the pacers with Curran, along with Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh having taken a combined 43 wickets. But they have gone for runs too.
PBKS Playing XI vs KKR
Sam Curran (C), Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar (SUB)
KKR vs PBKS Pitch Report
Dew is expected to play a part again in the evening game and the toss will surely have a major impact. With the match being contested on the middle pitch, which has already seen its fair share of action already. Win the toss and bat first to win the game then?
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