KKR vs PBKS 42nd Match Prediction

KKR vs PBKS Team Previews

Kolkata Knight Riders

The mentorship of Gautam Gambhir seems to be working wonders for the KKR team. With 5 wins in 7 matches, the team is currently second on the points table and has the best NRR among all teams.

Phil Salt and Sunil Narine make up for an explosive opening pair and have given the team some flying starts. Narine is the leading run-getter for the team this season. While he is a bit inconsistent, once he gets going, it is almost impossible to put a lid on him. You can be sure that Salt and Narine are going to come hard in the powerplay. 

This makes them very attractive for the most runs in the first 6 overs market.

The middle order consists of some quality batting, including Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi who can pace their innings according to the need. There once again plenty of firepower in the lower order with Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, and Ramandeep Singh. 

In terms of depth of batting, KKR is far ahead of PBKS in all respects.

Narine and Russell have been excellent with the ball too, picking up 9 wickets each. Mitchell Starc, who is the costliest player in the history of the IPL is struggling at the moment but the team will expect him to find some form going forward. 

Harshit Rana has been the standout bowler for KKR so far and could be a good option for the top bowler KKR market. 

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings are struggling at the moment and are coming into this contest on the back of 4 consecutive defeats. They are currently placed 9th on the points table, trailing the top four teams by 6 points.

Punjab Kings' batting has been very ordinary and the team will hope that Shikhar Dhawan recovers from his injury before it gets too late for the team. Sam Curran has replaced him as the captain as well as in the opening slot but hasn’t been able to match Dhawan’s extravagant strokeplay.

The others, including Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma, and Liam Livingstone have struggled too. However, there are a couple of positives for the team in the form of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma.

The two are among the top run-getters for the team and have played some impressive knocks so far. The bowlers have performed better. Harshal Patel is the leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets and has received good support from Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, and Arshdeep Singh.

The spin attack does look a bit thin with Liam Livingstone and Harpreet Brar managing to pick up only 4 wickets between them. 

PBKS has to contend with a lack of performances from its most senior players. That is perhaps upsetting the balance of the team and is preventing their best performing players (Ashutosh Sharms and Shashank Singh) from making the impact they otherwise could have.