The Playing XI, Match Preview and Pitch Report are ready for the 8th match of IPL 2022!
The eighth match of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League will see the Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Kolkata Knight Riders retained Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine while the Punjab Kings went for a squad overhaul, retaining just two players in Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh.
Both teams have done pretty well at the auction table with Kolkata Knight Riders purchasing Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins and Nitish Rana while the Punjab Kings went big for Kagiso Rabada, Shahrukh Khan and Shikhar Dhawan.
Both teams had a change of captains as well, with KL Rahul let go by the Punjab Kings and his Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarwal taking over. Shreyas Iyer will take over the reins at the Kolkata Knight Riders, replacing Eoin Morgan.
KKR vs PBKS Probable XI
Punjab Kings Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa/Rishi Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar
Kolkata Knight Riders Probable XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav.
Kolkata Knight Riders will hope that Pat Cummins gives them an early breakthrough in the powerplay to stop a top-heavy Punjab Kings side. Jonny Bairstow will have to settle for the No.3 slot to accommodate Shikar Dhawan at the top.
If the Knight Riders get the early breakthroughs, they have two quality spinners in Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to control the middle phase of the innings. The bowling attacks of both teams look pretty similar in terms of composition, with a world-class overseas fast bowler, two Indian pacers, a West Indian spinning all-rounder and a leg-spinner.
If Andre Russell isn’t fit to bowl, Kolkata might struggle at the death, as would be the case with the Punjab Kings, who rely on Rabada and two Indian rookies. The No.5 spot is looking like a problem for the Punjab Kings with U-19 all-rounder Raj Bawa the only option in what is otherwise a settled unit.
KKR vs PBKS Pitch Report
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium has generally favoured the batsmen and there is no reason to suggest otherwise. The average first innings score at this venue over the last four years in T20 cricket is 174, which suggests it is a good pitch to bat on.
The captain who wins the toss will probably have to choose to bowl first, as there will be dew later on, although the stats show that the teams batting first have won 50% of the games. There will be good bounce and swing early for the fast-bowlers while the off-spinners have enjoyed decent success, conceding runs at just 7.4 per over.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings Head to Head record
Total Matches played – 29
Won by Kolkata Knight Riders – 19
Won by Punjab Kings – 10
The Kolkata Knight Riders have dominated this fixture historically with 19 wins in 29 games but with drastic changes in the squads, historical data could go out of the window. It is pretty hard to see where the wickets are going to come for the Knight Riders, especially against this Punjab batting line-up.
So, a win for the Punjab kings could be on the cards.
Follow the full IPL 2022 schedule and match predictions before you go ahead and place your cricket bets.
