Kolkata Knight Riders will host Punjab Kings in match 44 of the ongoing Indian Premier League at Eden Gardens. The defending champions had a rough start to the campaign, winning only three out of their eight matches, and the team will be desperate to bounce back to winning ways in order to remain alive in the playoff race. Punjab, on the other hand, have been very impressive, winning five out of eight matches.
Earlier in the season, when these two teams faced, Punjab were bundled for 111 runs. KKR were expected to pick up a comfortable win, but interestingly, they bottled the chase, losing the match by 16 runs. PBKS defended the lowest-ever score in IPL history. The Shreyas Iyer-led side will be hopeful to take inspiration from the game and repeat the same on Saturday, April 26.
The Knight Riders, meanwhile, need to get better on all three fronts, particularly batting. They have lacked intent and it is something that mentor Dwayne Bravo also addressed. He mentioned that the earlier defeats have hampered the mentality and added that the players are low in confidence. That needs to get better for KKR to remain in the fight. One more defeat can end their campaign.
Among batters, only Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi seem to be in form. All the others have struggled and that’s a concern. However, with the ball, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy have done well.
Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Pitch Report
The surface at Eden Gardens heavily favour the batters. However, after a complaint from the KKR management, things have changed slightly. What previously was a 220 pitch is now 180-190, kind of a surface. Spinners may benefit in the middle overs. Bowling first will be ideal as dew can play a part in the second innings.