Kolkata: Days after an iconic nail-biting victory over RCB, the Kolkata Knight Riders are all set to take on the Punjab Kings on Friday night as they look to bag another 2 points and inch closer towards playoff qualification.
After tremendous team performance in their last game, KKR will have their sights set on replicating a similar performance against PBKS who are coming off back-to-back losses.
While PBKS would be desperate for a victory at the Eden Gardens over KKR, they might be in for a long night against a fiery KKR unit with an incredible momentum on their side. The stage is set for an exciting contest as two strong units collide at the iconic Eden Gardens.
Out of the 32 matches they’ve played against each other, KKR have a comfortable lead of 21-11.
Last time these two teams faced each other in Kolkata, it was KKR who came out victorious after a complete team performance. Both sides would be occupying very different head-spaces currently and one would believe, KKR would definitely have the advantage over PBKS.
It has been a run-fest all season long at the Eden Gardens and KKR have stood up to the occasion with three 200+ totals already. One can expect a similar pitch for the next game as well with lots of assistance for the batters to hit through the line and score big runs.
There has been a change in the role of Venkatesh Iyer this season where his entry point has been a little different compared to last year. With Nitish not available, Iyer has filled in for his role, where he goes out and attacks the opposition by batting at a high-tempo. All eyes would be on him after a couple of good innings and he would be looking to max out whatever balls he faces.
Ramandeep Singh has been a revelation lower down the order for KKR where he has churned out extremely useful contributions for KKR in the latter stages of the innings. KKR would be hoping for another cameo from him if required to boost them towards the end of the innings.
Harshit Rana has carved out an important role for himself with key performances all throughout the season. His 4 overs have become quite crucial for KKR where he has picked wickets with the new ball as well as in the middle phase of the game. KKR would be hopeful of another great performance from Harshit with the ball in the upcoming game.
Two fierce competitors will go toe-to-toe in the upcoming KKR-PBKS contest as Phil Salt would look to continue his merry way with the ultra-aggressive approach while Kagiso Rabada would be looking to find the wicket ball to pick up the crucial wicket of Salt. Both would look to go hard at each other and this would be a contest to watch out for and could well have a significant impact on the outcome of the contest.
Both Andre Russell and Liam Livingstone have been pivotal for their respective sides with bat as well as ball.
Dre-Russ has had a huge impact as the all-rounder for KKR and he would be looking for a similar performance against PBKS as he goes head-to-head against their powerhouse Liam Livingstone who himself has played a very important role for PBKS. A clash of these heavyweight all-rounders would be an interesting one to look forward to in this game.