Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Preview & Prediction
KKR have been the better team in this head-to-head, winning 20 out of 30 games against PBKS. Since 2018, KKR have beaten PBKS six times in the 9 games that they have played against each other. The contest has been close at Mohali with KKR having the edge by a margin of 4-3. Shikhar Dhawan will look to start his campaign with Punjab Super Kings with a win while newly captained Nitish Rana will not mind a win to start off his IPL Captaincy era
Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Details:
Match: Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders (PBKS Vs KKR) Match 2, IPL 2023
Venue: IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Punjab
Date & Time: Saturday, April 31, 2023, 3:30 PM IST
Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Pitch Report:
The Pitch at IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali is known to assist batters and should see teams post competitive totals here. Average first innings at this venue in IPL has been 176 while the average first innings winning score has been 185 in the IPL since 2018. In T20s since 2022, the average first innings score has been 157 at this venue
Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Weather Forecast:
The Weather is expected to be a worrisome one for this game. Rains are expected which could lead to a shortened game
Expected Playing 11 for Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Shikhar Dhawan (C), Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sharukh Khan, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Expected Playing 11 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana (C), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson/Tim Southee, Varun CV, Umesh Yadav
Top Picks from Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Shikhar Dhawan
In last seven seasons, Shikhar Dhawan has regularly scored 400+ runs and his performance has been at its best in the last three seasons. Dhawan has scored 300+ runs in 12 consecutive seasons now which is the second longest streak for a player in the IPL. Dhawan holds the record for scoring 450+ runs the most consecutive IPL seasons as he has done it in seven seasons in a row now. He has scored 810 runs against KKR which is amongst the most for him against an opponent in this competition.
Caution: Shikhar Dhawan has generally not performed too well at Mohali as he has averaged 27.6 at this venue which is amongst the lowest for him at a venue in the IPL
Sam Curran
Sam Curran has been bought back by the side that he represented in his first season of the IPL in PBKS for IPL 2023. He will have lot of expectations coming into IPL 2023as he is now the most expensive player sold in the history of the IPL Auction with 18.5 Crores.
He is coming back to the IPL after missing out on the 2022 season due to injury. He made his debut in IPL 2019 for Punjab Kings and took 10 wickets in 9 games which included a hatrick against Delhi Capitals. In the 2020 season, he moved to CSK and had his best season till date picking up 13 wickets in 13 games at a decent economy of 8.2. In 2021, though he picked up wickets, he was quite expensive.
He was exceptional in the T20 world cup last year where he was the leading wicket taker with 13 wickets to his name. He was also named as the player of the tournament for his consistent performance in the competition.
Arshdeep Singh
The 2021 season was his breakout edition as he took 18 wickets in 12 games with an excellent bowling strike rate of 13.8. In 2022, he was very economical with ball going at just 7.7 economy rate but what makes this number impressive is the fact is the fact that he bowls the majority of his overs in the final five overs. The main reason for his success was his execution of his Yorkers as no bowler bowled more Yorkers than Arshdeep Singh in overall and in the final five overs in IPL 2022.
Top Picks from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana, ever since he made his way into KKR in IPL 2018, has been their highest run getter and has provided them with consistent performances in the competition. He has scored over 300 runs in every season since IPL 2018 which goes to show his consistency in this competition.
KKR will most likely play him at the number 4 position and this is where they will take the most advantage from him as he plays spin very well. Most likely a player who bats at number 4 will play spin bowling a lot in the middle overs and Nitish Rana has a good record against spin.
Caution: He averages just 20.9 against PBKS which is his lowest against an opponent in this competition. In his last five innings against them, he has been dismissed for single digit score four times with three of them being ducks.
Andre Russell
Andre Russell has been one of KKR’s greatest assets for years now in the IPL as he is their third highest run getter and second highest wicket taker in the tournament’s history.
He has performed well against PBKS having scored 331 runs against them which is the second most for him against an opponent. He has scored three fifties against them which is the second most for him against an opponent. He has taken 15 wickets against PBKS which is the most for him against an opponent in the competition.
Sunil Narine
Narine has also been performing well in T20s after IPL 2022 as not only was he economical but he also took wickets at a good rate across the different competitions he has been a part of in this time period including 13 Wickets in Vitality Blast in 12 Innings, 11 Wickets in The Hundred, 2022 in 6 Innings, 11 Wickets in The Caribbean Premier League (CPL), 2022 in 9 Innings & 4 Wickets in 4 Innings in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)
Narine has enjoyed bowling against PBKS having taken 32 wickets against them which is the most for him against an opponent.
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