Preview: As the play-off race heats up, the assured Kolkata Knight Riders take on the “unlucky” Punjab Kings

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their most recent match by the narrowest of margins. When they play Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Eden Gardens on Friday in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, they will be hoping to keep winning.

With 10 points from seven games, KKR is now ranked second in the standings. PBKS, on the other hand, has just two victories in their eight games, placing them ninth.

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With the greatest net run rate of any club, the Knights are positioned to make the playoffs, while the Kings will need to win their last three games to even be considered.

In their 32 IPL meetings, KKR and PBKS have never lost, with the Knights having won 21 of those meetings. Over their previous five confrontations, PBKS has triumphed twice over KKR.

News from the KKR team
The opening combination of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine has scored the majority of the runs for KKR, with one of the two stepping up to hit the big runs in the batting lineup.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi produced an incredible fifty-run debut, but he hasn’t been able to build on it since. The team’s third-highest run scorer, skipper Shreyas Iyer, has raised concerns with his strike rate of 126.66. However, he scored his first fifty of the season in the most recent game, off only 36.

One fifty is the most runs Venkatesh Iyer has scored this season; he has not been able to score runs in the middle of the pack. Any of the three players—Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, and Ramandeep Singh—had to enter the game deep and quickly score runs.

In terms of bowling, Russell, Narine, and Harshit Rana have each claimed nine wickets. The Trinidadian spinner has also been frugal, finishing his allotted four overs in each game. Russell has the greatest average, while Rana has the best strike rate.

Varun Chakaravarthy has been expensive, despite having seven wickets to his credit. Mitchell Starc, the star Australian, has, however, given up the most runs with the fewest wickets taken while failing so far to live up to his record-breaking price tag.

Playing XI for KKR versus PBKS: Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma (SUB), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell

News from the PBKS Team
Punjab Kings has only won two of the games they have played so far, most of them thrillers. Had fortune been on their favor, PBKS would have been in the upper half of the standings. However, they are lingering close to the bottom.

The fact that the team’s top scorers are Prabhsimran Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, and Shashank Singh may indicate a concern for Punjab. Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, and even Rilee Rossouw, their top-order players, have only been able to score runs.

They have been hindered by the absence of regular captain Shikhar Dhawan, and Sam Curran’s batting order hopping hasn’t helped either.

They have taken a total of 43 wickets with their bowling, which has been significantly superior, notably from the pacers Curran, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, and Arshdeep Singh. However, they have also gone on runs.

Playing XI versus KKR, PBKS
Sam Curran (C), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar (SUB), Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, and Jitesh Sharma (WK)

PKR vs. PBKS Pitch Analysis
Dew is anticipated to participate in the nighttime game once again, and the toss will undoubtedly have a significant effect. The center pitch, where the match is being played, has already seen a good amount of activity. Then, to win the game, who will win the toss and bat first?