Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will search for two crucial points when they face Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 53rd match of the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) on Monday, May 8. KKR registered their only fourth win of this season with a five-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last game. Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana shone again to help KKR post a big total of 171/9 while batting first. Then Shardul Thakur and Vaibhav Arora picked two wickets each to restrict Hyderabad to 166/8 to earn two crucial points.
PBKS enter this game after a heartbreaking six-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians in their last game. Liam Livingstone returned to form as he smashed 82* off 42 and wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma added quick unbeaten 49 runs to help Punjab score a total of 214/3. But bowlers' struggles this season continued as Mumbai chased down the mammoth target in just 18.5 overs. Nathan Ellis, who replaced Kagiso Rabada, took two wickets but their leading wicket-taker this season, Arshdeep Singh conceded 66 runs from his four-over spell.
Punjab Kings remain in the seventh position in the points table with five wins from ten games. They are in a good position to qualify for the playoffs if they win three of the remaining four games this season. Kolkata Knight Riders sit in the eighth position with eight points from ten games and a win today will boost them to no.5 position. However, KKR have lost three of their last five encounters against PBKS and are struggling at Eden Gardens with three defeats from four games this season.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Match 53
Venue: Eden Garden, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
Probable Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy (Impact Player)
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Rishi Dhawan (Impact Player)
Pitch and Weather Report
The pitch at Kolkata's Eden Gardens favors batters in T20 cricket. The average first innings score here is 163 in 81 IPL games but teams have consistently posted big totals here this season. The average first innings score here is 222 in four matches in IPL 2023. Chennai Super Kings broke the record of the highest total when they smashed 235 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders this season.
There is no forecast for rain in Kolkata during the same time. Temperature is likely to hover around 39 degree Celsius during game time and will decrease to 35 at the end of game time. There is a 3% of chance of rain during the initial stages of the match.
Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Jason Roy
Jason Roy joined Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for Shakib Al Hasan after missing the initial five matches. The English opener made an immediate impact by scoring 43 off 39 against Delhi Capitals and then recorded two back-to-back fifties against CSK and RCB in the next two games. He scored 20 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match and has scored overall 180 runs from just four innings at a strike rate of 159.29 in IPL 2023.
Best Bowler of the Match: Arshdeep Singh
The left-arm pacer endured a poor outing against Mumbai Indians in the last game as he conceded 66 runs from his four-over spell. But Arshdeep is in sensational form for Punjab Kings this season with 16 wickets from just 10 innings at an economy rate of 9.80 so far. He won the Player of the Match award for his 3/19 spell when KKR faced Punjab Kings earlier this season.
Who will win the Match: Punjab Kings (PBKS)
