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Peter Green - April 25, 2025
Punjab Kings saw their two-match winning streak end with a seven-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their latest game. They have now slipped to fifth place in the standings and will look to bounce back with a win on Saturday against Kolkata Knight Riders. Meanwhile, KKR faced a surprising defeat against Gujarat Titans, falling short in their chase of 198 and finishing with just 159.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings have faced each other 32 times in the IPL since GT’s debut in 2022, with KKR leading the head-to-head record with 21 wins to PBKS’s 11.
At Eden Gardens in Kolkata, KKR has been particularly dominant, winning 9 out of 12 matches against PBKS.
In the past five seasons, the rivalry has been more balanced. From 2021 to 2023, both teams have secured victories against each other, with KKR winning three matches and PBKS winning two.
Notably, in a 2024 encounter at Eden Gardens, PBKS achieved a record-breaking chase, scoring 262 runs to surpass KKR’s 261, marking the highest T20 total ever chased.
Captain- Ajinkya Rahane
Quinton de Kock, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
Impact Players- Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Captain- Shreyas Iyer
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Impact Player- Nehal Wadhera
Shreyas Iyer (PBKS): In 14 innings against KKR, Iyer has scored 456 runs at an average of 41.5 and a strike rate of 151. His best score is an unbeaten 93*, and he has hit two half-centuries in these matches.
Yuzvendra Chahal (PBKS): Chahal took four wickets against KKR in the reverse fixture and has been in top form since then. He also has a five-wicket haul and a hat-trick against KKR, making him one of the top threats with the ball.
Ajinkya Rahane (KKR): While most KKR batters have been inconsistent, Rahane has been a steady performer. He comes into this game after scoring a fifty and now has 271 runs in 8 matches at an average of 38.
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Yuzvendra Chahal (VC), Priyansh Arya, Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Marcus Stoinis, Sunil Narine, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Punjab Kings will look to return to winning ways when they face an inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders side on Saturday. PBKS already showed their strength in the reverse fixture by defending the lowest total in IPL history. Based on current form, they are expected to challenge KKR strongly at Eden Gardens.
Punjab Kings are still in the playoff race. Their recent loss could push them to bounce back. Also, they have an advantage as they are among the few teams yet to play nine games.
Iyer has a solid record against KKR and is in decent form this season. He scored a duck in the reverse game and missed out in the last three matches. He’s likely to aim for a big comeback.
PBKS’ bowling has been more consistent than KKR’s. In two of their last three matches, at least two PBKS bowlers took 2+ wickets — including in the reverse fixture against KKR.
