IPL 2021: PBKS vs KKR – The 21st match of the IPL 2021 will be underway between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings on Monday. The game starts at 7:30 IST and will be hosted at the Narendra Modi Stadium. No fans are allowed inside the stadium as the game is supposed to be played behind closed doors.
PBKS vs KKR – Match Preview
Motera Stadium which was renamed to Narendra Modi Stadium will host its first IPL match in this season. Narendra Modi Stadium is a perfect batting paradise which is also advantageous for spinners. Given both the teams have a strong spin bowling depth, it will be interesting to see how the match pans out.
Chennai Super Kings came into the way of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 4-match undefeated streak and handed them a loss, in a quite miserable way. Chennai climbs to the top with such a dominating performance. Delhi Capital’s win over Sunrisers Hyderabad has them on level points with Bangalore, and Chennai. They currently occupy the third position followed by Mumbai Indians.
Kolkata Knight Riders Team News
Kolkata Knight Riders‘ winless run continues to haunt them as they fall down to 7th place in the table with yet another defeat. They were restricted to only 133 runs in 20 overs by Rajasthan’s bowling attack. Sustainable batting is what they have been searching for. The top-order batsmen could not withstand the pressure during the powerplay and toppled down one by one in front of the blues.
Nitish Rana, the top scorer for KKR once again did not live upto the expectations. The other opener Subhman Gill has a strike rate as low as 77.5 in his last four matches. This woefully irregular opening pair has seen KKR perform the most awful powerplay in the history of IPL. the captain Eoin Morgan got dismissed without playing a single delivery. A confusion between Rahul Tripathi and Morgan saw the Englishman get run out by Chris Morris at the non-striker’s end.
Moreover, The bowling prowess KKR possessed was not enough to defend such a low total.
Rajasthan Royals found themselves an easy target to chase and hugged it as tight as they could to the finishing line, where a win was quite certain for them.
KKR needs to improve on their batting strategies which has gone downhill in the recent matches and has not at all favoured them.
Predicted Eleven– Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell; Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi.
Punjab Kings Team News
Punjab Kings grabbed their much-awaited win in this years’ IPL. They outplayed the most successful team of IPL’s history, Mumbai Indians, on Friday. KL Rahul and his men made a very comfortable entry into the match and had Mumbai’s higher-order batsmen topple down one by one. Mohammad Shami stole the limelight as he went on to pick 2 wickets giving away just 21 runs in 4 overs with an economy of 5.25.
The second-highest scorer of this seasons’ IPL, KL Rahul got a half-century and his 60 runs in 52 balls helped Punjab chase 132 runs in just 17.4 overs. The Kings took their time and did not rush into the game; lest they lose wickets to the dangerous bowling Mumbai poses.
Punjab’s reliability in their bowlers paid off and will need it again on Monday.
Kolkata’s winless run will open a lot of vantage points for KL Rahul and his boys. They will go with their head held up high in the match and look to grab a definite 2 points at the end of it.
Predicted Eleven- KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran; Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi
PBKS vs KKR – Key Stats
Kolkata Knight Riders lead this fixture by a margin of 9 games. The Punjab Kings emerge second best when it comes to facing KKR, as they have lost 18 of the 27 games they have faced each other in. The previous season saw both the teams settle for a win, the two times they locked horns together. Chris Gayle, the former KKR batsman, has the most number of runs(331) when it comes to facing KKR; followed by his fellow countryman Andre Russell(251) and Mandeep Singh.
Conclusion
A match between two teams who are yet to bring the best out of their eleven and have struggled to secure a win and hence a decent spot on the table. It will surely prove to be a gripping match
