PK (Punjab Kings) vs KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) Match Prediction

PK

54%

Chance of Winning

KKR

46%

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Apr 01, 202301:00 PM

India

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium

The second match of the Indian Premier League 2023 will see a repeat of the 2014 IPL final as Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns on April 1, 2023, in Mohali. While Punjab ended last season in sixth place on the table, they were closely followed by Kolkata who ended up a spot below in seventh place. The match is schdeuled to start at 7:30 IST and is sure to be a cracking contest.

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Chances of Winning

With two new teams added into the mix last season, not all teams played each other twice in the league stage. And that was the case with Punjab and Kokata as they faced off just once in the tournament last year. The game that was played at the Wankhede ended as win for Kolkata as after restricting Punjab to just 137, they chased down the target in 14.3 overs with six wickets in hand.

Despite the recent trend of Kolkata’s dominance, and the fact that Punjab are missing the services of Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow, the oddsmakers have decided to side with Punjab in this one. While a close game is expected to be played out in Mohali, Punjab have been tagged as the favorites for this one with odds of 1.82 which gives them a implied odds of 54.95%. Kolkata, on the other hand, also have implied odds of 51.02% based on their winning odds of 1.96.

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Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Prediction & Betting Tips 2022

Punjab Kings started last season’s campaign with a win before they had a topsy turvy time seeing them winning three and losing three in their first six games. Their inconsistency was blatantly evident as they would beat table toppers Gujarat Titans by eight wickets before losing to to Rajasthan Royals by six. The season ended with a win against Sunrisers Hyderabad but much like what had transpired before then, they ended up with a record of seven wins and seven losses which left them reeling on sixth place.

Kolkata Knight Riders started off the 2022 Indian Premier League season looking like a team on a mission. They beat former Champions Mumbai and Chennai, and Punjab for good measure, in their first four games. But five losses in a row saw their chances at a playoff appearance dissipating. While they did win three of their next four games, a loss in their final game against Lucknow saw them finish seventh on the table.

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Toss Prediction

The last time Punjab played a home game in Mohali was 2019. The last five games played at the venue saw the winning captain choosing to bowl first every single time. Only once, Rajasthan Royals, was the team not able to win the game. Whoever wins the toss will most definitely choose to field first.

Weather Report

The weather in the Punjab Cricket Stadium on Saturday, April 1 is likely to be good enough for a game of cricket but rain may interrupt the game for a few minutes. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be 31 degrees and 21 degrees celsius respectively. The probability of thunderstorms would be around 37% and the wind speed is expected to be near 24 km/h.

Punjab Kings Player List

Punjab Kings Squad:

Shikhar Dhawan, Arshdeep Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Baltej Singh, Raj Bawa, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Singh, Vidwath Kaverappa, Liam Livingstone, Mohit Rathee, Prabhsimran Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, M Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Singh, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide

Punjab Kings predicted playing XI:

Punjab Kings Team Form

Punjba tend to start season’s well and usually have a problem in ending the season with wins. The last four games that Punjab played last season saw them win two games and lose two. The last game they played was against Sunrisers Hyderabad which was a win but it accounted for nothing as they had no chance of making the playoffs by then.

Kolkata Knight Riders Player List

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad:

Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana (C), Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Ashok Sharma, Tim Southee, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Umesh Yadav, N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Fergsuon, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Shakib Al Hasan

Kolkata Knight Riders predicted playing XI:

Kolkata Knight Riders Team Form

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Head-to-Head

The head to head record between the two sides is pretty lopsided. While Kolkata have won 20 of the 30 games played between the two sides, the last four games have been shared between the two sides.

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Betting Odds

After analysing the previous year’s trends of both the teams and the surface report. The odds of the Kolkata Knight Riders winning the match are 1.78, while the odds for the Punjab Kings are 1.97

• Punjab Kings Betting Odds - 1.97
• Kolkata Knight Riders Betting Odds - 1.78

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Top Team Batsmen

Nitish Rana to be KKR’s Top Batsman

Nitish Rana has been in KKR for as soon as one can remember and with Shreyas Iyer unavailable due to injury, he got the nod for captaincy over the likes of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. His career average of 28.32 in the IPL is pretty good and with him likely being deployed as an anchor, there is a high chance he might post a career high average this season.

Shikhar Dhawan to be Punjab’s top batter

If there is one thing that you can associate with Shikhar Dhawan it is his consistency. He has not scored less than 400 runs in an IPL season since 2015. His career average might read 35.08 but over the last three seasons, he has averaged more than that every single year. With Baistow out for the foreseeable future, Dhawan will be the man incharge of putting runs on the board for Punjab.

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Top Team Bowlers

Andre Russell to be KKR’s top bowler

To be honest this one was a coin flip between Russell and Umesh Yadav but we will have to side with the man from the Carribean. Not only was he the team’s highest wicket taker last season, but there is a good chance that Umesh might be substituted in and out as an impact player. With Russell excelling at claiming wickets in the death, he is sure to get is name in the wicket column more often than not.

Kagiso Rabada to be KKR’s top bowler

I was really tempted to put in Sam Curran’s name on here but that would have been disrespectful towards one of the best bowlers in the world. Rabada had an astonishing 23 wickets last season which was nine more than Rahul Chahar. We will have to see how Curran’s second spell with the Kings goes for us to change our mind but as things we have to give it to the guy who has already proven his worth in Punjab.

Our Prediction

Favorites to win: Punjab Kings

Even before the auction arrived, Kolkata made big moves in the trade market by acquiring the likes of Lockie Ferguson (Gujarat Titans) and Shardul Thakur (Delhi Capitals) to bolster their squad which saw 14 players being cut after the season. Punjab went in the other direction and used the auction to solidify their squad and shelled out an incredible ₹18.5 crores for English all rounder Sam Curran. However, with Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone not available for this one, it is going to be close.

To be honest, this one is a coin flip right now as the odds suggest but gun to my head, I would have to pick Punjab. The team from North India tend to start tournaments faster than most teams. Since the 2016 season, Punjab have won their opening game on every occasion barring the 2020 season, where they lost in a Super Over, and that is no mean feat.

Punjab Kings to win - 1.82

Kolkata Knight Riders to win - 1.96

Shankar Shekh

Sportscafe's author

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