The 8th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will see Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) facing off against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 1st at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Match Preview
KKR after winning their opening game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets, went on to lose their second game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a couple of wickets.
Their batters failed to make an impact as KKR were bundled out for just 128 runs. Their bowlers, however, did an excellent job, taking the low-scoring match to the last over before Dinesh Karthik chased it down for the Royal Challengers.
Shreyas Iyer used the bowlers pretty well, and it will be intriguing to see how he will use them against a side full of power hitters.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings already announced their dominance in the tournament after chasing down the mammoth score of 206 with an over to spare against Royal Challengers Bangalore. All of their batters, except Raj Bawa, contributed with the bat, which made the chase easy against RCB.
Their bowlers, however, were pretty expensive in the death overs against RCB and must be looking to improve it. Kagiso Rabada has joined Punjab Kings, and it will be a massive boost to their bowling attack.
With both sides looking to clinch a win, a mouthwatering clash beckons in Wankhede on Friday.
Match Details
Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, Match 8
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Date & Time: April 1st at 7:30 PM IST and local time
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
Pitch Report
The track at the Wankhede is a good one for batting. Two matches have been played at this venue, and both games were won by the team bowling first. The bowlers won't have much room for error. We can expect a high scoring match on Friday.
Pitch Stats
Matches Played: 7
Matches Won Batting First: 2
Matches Won Bowling First: 5
Average 1st Inning Score: 194
Average 2nd Inning Score: 182
Injury Update/Players
Punjab Kings
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has completed his quarantine period and is available for selection against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shreyas Iyer (capt), Pat Cummins, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, B Indrajith, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Sam Billings, Aaron Finch, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav, Aman Khan, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine
Punjab Kings
Mayank Agarwal (capt), Arshdeep Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odeon Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell
Probable Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders
Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
Punjab Kings
Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wk), Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Sandeep Sharma
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1
Wicket-Keeper: Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Batters: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana
All-Rounders: Andre Russell, Odean Smith
Bowlers: Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Chahar
Captain: Shikhar Dhawan
Vice-Captain: Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2
Wicket-Keeper: Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Batters: Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane
All-Rounders: Liam Livingstone, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer
Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy
Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Vice-Captain: Odean Smith