Richard Illingworth
Anil Dandekar
Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee
Manu Nayyar
Team Lineup
Kolkata Knight Riders
Punjab Kings
Shubman Gill
Venkatesh Iyer
Rahul Tripathi
Nitish Rana
Eoin Morgan
Dinesh Karthik
Tim Seifert
Sunil Narine
Tim Southee
Varun Chakravarthy
Shivam Mavi
Lokesh Rahul
Mayank Agarwal
Aiden Markram
Nicholas Pooran
Shahrukh Khan
Fabian Allen
Deepak Hooda
Nathan Ellis
Ravi Bishnoi
Mohammed Shami
Arshdeep Singh
Match Prediction – KKR vs PBKS, 45th Match IPL 2021 – Who Will Win Today’s Match?
Match number 45 of this 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) sees Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) battle it out against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Dubai International fun88in.in Stadium. These are two teams that have contrasting momentums.
KKR have turned things around superbly in this second half of the tournament and have come out all guns blazing. The Eoin Morgan-led side have won three out of the four encounters that they have played in the UAE. Their only loss came against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and even that was on the last ball while defending 171. KKR’s top-order has fired but it is the bowling that has stood out and has driven the side. They are currently on 10 points and are fourth on the points table. A win in this game will help them break away from the mid-table muddle and create a decent gap among the other teams.
On the other hand, PBKS have struggled for momentum. They have managed to lose games from winning positions and they’ve been completely outplayed in certain games. Their batting is too reliant on KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran’s form is a huge concern. Aiden Markram has been getting runs but it just hasn’t been enough. The bowling has been largely inconsistent. Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh have been good in patches while Ravi Bishnoi has been the only standout. Hence, with just four games to go for Punjab, they will need to turn things around quickly. They have eight points and they need to win every game from hereon to make it to the top four.
Add to this, Punjab’s record against KKR isn’t the greatest. KKR have a lead of 19-9 as far as head to head record is concerned.
Andre Russell was injured in the game against CSK and missed out in the game against DC. Dinesh Karthik couldn’t provide an exact update on the West Indian all-rounder’s fitness. Hence, KKR might go in with an unchanged XI.
Punjab Kings
Mayank Agarwal had a stiff neck and Mandeep Singh replaced him in the side. The Karnataka lad is likely to make a comeback and will open the batting. Also, Punjab have constantly chopped and changed a lot and there could be more changes on the cards.
Punjab Kings:
KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Key players
Lockie Ferguson
: Lockie Ferguson has flown under the radar in this UAE leg of the IPL 2021. The New Zealand fast bowler has been around the squad but Pat Cummins was KKR’s premier fast bowler. But the Australian’s absence gave Ferguson an opportunity and he has grabbed it with both hands. He has rattled the batters with pace and has used his slower ones really well too. He has returned with seven wickets from four games and has an economy rate of 6.71.
KL Rahul
: KL Rahul has been in stellar form for Punjab over the years. However, he hasn’t been able to convert his starts in this second half of the IPL. The PBKS skipper has scores of 49, 21 and 21 so far. Overall, he has amassed 422 runs at an average of 52.75 and is striking at 132.28 in this season. Besides, Punjab’s middle-order doesn’t inspire confidence at all and thus, Rahul will be critical at the top of the order once again.
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KKR vs PBKS Prediction
and head-to-head analysis.
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