Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings: Preview & Expected XI

IPL 2023 KKR v PBKS (Image Source: Google)

Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns with Punjab Kings at their home ground, Eden Gardens, in the 53rd match of the Indian Premier League on Monday (May 8). The two teams have already faced each other this season, when Punjab beat Kolkata by 7 runs via the DLS method in a rain-affected match at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

PBKS v KKR: Head-to-Head In IPL

Kolkata Knight Riders have an upper hand against Punjab Kings in IPL winning 20 of the 31 matches played between them Punjab won 11 clashes.

KKR v PBKS Preview

Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata are coming into this match after registering a 5-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game. KKR has four wins from the ten games played this season. They have to win all the remaining matches to be in the race for the IPL play-offs.

Rinku Singh (316), Venkatesh Iyer (303), and skipper Nitish Rana (275) are the top scorers for KKR this season. The spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy (14), Suyash Sharma (9), and Sunil Narine (7) are leading the bowling attack, but their fast bowling (Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, and Tim Southee) has not fired yet, and the team must be expecting them to perform in the remaining matches. Andre Russell has taken seven wickets and scored 166 runs in the ongoing season. KKR will be hoping for some big knocks from him in today's and remaining matches.

3 Teams With 8 Points, 4 Teams With 10 Points

We're All Set For A Great Finish!

Full #RRvSRH Scorecard @ https://t.co/8xtZTMbvI4 pic.twitter.com/RF77A5aUuh

— CRICKETNMORE (@cricketnmore) May 7, 2023

Punjab Kings Punjab are coming into this match after suffering a 6-wicket defeat to the Mumbai Indians in their last game. Punjab has five wins from ten matches, and they must be looking to strengthen their chances for the IPL playoffs with a win in this game. Shikhar Dhawan (292 runs), Punjab's captain, is the leading scorer for the team. Jitesh Sharma (239) and opener Prabhsimran Singh (219) have also contributed with the bat, though Punjab would be expecting big scores from them. Arshdeep Singh is leading the PBKS pace attack and has already registered 16 wickets this season in nine matches. Nathan Ellis (9) and Sam Curran (7) are the other wicket-takers for Punjab.

Eden Gardens, Kolkata - Pitch & Ground Stats (IPL)

The pitch at Eden Gardens is favorable for batting. Captains winning the toss would opt for bowling as teams won more matches while chasing. In the last game played at this ground, Kolkata suffered defeat from the Gujarat Titans, as the latter chased down the target of 180 comfortably with 13 balls to spare.

• Matches - 81
• Team Batting First - 34
• Team Batting Second - 46
• No Result - 01
• Average First Innings Score - 163
• Average Second Innings score - 148

KKR v PBKS: Expected Playing XI

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh