Shreyas Iyer's Kolkata Knight Riders are all set to face Shikhar Dhawan's Punjab Kings in match No. 42 of IPL 2024 on Friday, 26th April, at the Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata. PBKS have won only 2 and lost six games so far this season and are sitting at the second bottom of the points table. Meanwhile, KKR have won five out of their seven games so far this season and are sitting at the second spot of the points table. Both teams would like to claim the important two points so it will be an exciting contest in Kolkata. From possible playing XIs to Dream11 predictions, here is everything you need to know about the KKR vs PBKS match in IPL 2024.

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Match Details

Giving back to those who go above and beyond for everyone 🫡

Our Knights visited Manipal Hospital in Kolkata to share their gratitude to the health care experts. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/EYk0IUpQD3
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 25, 2024

How to watch the KKR vs PBKS IPL 2024 Match?

The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings IPL 2024 match will be televised on Star Sports Network. All the Indian Premier League matches will be streamed free on the Jio Cinema app and website.

Pitch & Weather Report

Eden Gardens has been very batting-friendly in the last few years. Four out of seven matches played at the venue last season crossed the 200 mark. Four games have been played here so far this season, three of which have seen 200-plus scores in both innings.

The KKR vs PBKS is also expected to be a high-scoring match as the pitch is favouring the batters completely. The dew will play a part as this will be an evening game, and batting second would be a good option.

The temperatures will be around 35 degrees in the evening. There is no chance of rain and the humidity is expected to be close to 78 percent.

⚠️ Masterminds at work ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/wignhWQcJ2
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 24, 2024

KKR vs PBKS: Head-to-Head Record

Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings have faced each other in 32 matches and KKR have been the dominant side, winning 21 while PBKS have won only 11 encounters.

Matches played: 32
Kolkata Knight Riders won: 21
Punjab Kings won: 11
No result: 0
Highest Score: 245
Lowest Score: 109

KKR vs PBKS: Head-to-Head at Eden Gardens

Total matches played: 12
Kolkata Knight Riders won: 9
Punjab Kings won: 3
No result: 0

Left-handed 🇮🇳 openers, unlimited memories 💜♥️ pic.twitter.com/1Yfqd1bJwi
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 24, 2024

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Team News

Kolkata Knight Riders

The Knight Riders won the last game by only one runs against a struggling RCB side. This is going to be a very important game for KKR and they will be desperate to claim the three points. Phil Salt and Sunil Narine are having a sensational season. Both the openers have contributed so much to the team and there is no doubt, they have been the most important players for the Knight Riders this season.

𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 the doors of destruction 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/BHyPs1s3ST
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 25, 2024

Raghuvanshi failed to score runs in the last game but he has been quite brilliant. Shreyas Iyer is having a below-average season. He hasn't been good with the bat and the same problem lies with Venkatesh Iyer too. Shreyas did score a half-century in the last game but he needs to remain consistent in the remaining games. Andre Russell and Rinku Singh have played their role as finishers but they will be challenged when the top order fails.

KKR's bowling is another issue. Mitchell Starc hasn't justified his price tag yet. Harshit Rana still has to learn a lot and the 22-year-old still has a lot of time to improve but he bowled a mature 4-over spell in the game against RCB. He is bowling well and it looks like, he'll only improve from here. Varun Chakaravarthy is having an average season and he will be hoping to make a comeback. Sunil Narine has bowled well and Andre Russell has bowled some critical overs too. But, the KKR bowling unit has to improve more if they want to deliver better performances in the remaining fixtures.

Now this is what we call 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 🤌 pic.twitter.com/szaCxArIMX
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 25, 2024

Punjab Kings

The opening pair Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow have only put together one fifty-plus partnership this season. They both are having a terrible season and a strong opening pair is very important for a good start to any game. Dhawan has made 152 runs in five matches and looks completely out of touch. He was out with an injury so Sam Curran was leading the side in the absence of him. Bairstow had become a liability for the team and Punjab decided to drop him. Sam Curran and Prabhsimran added 52 runs for the first wicket in the last match and they will be looking to replicate it once again.

Sadde 🦁s hain taiyyar! 🔥💪#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #JazbaHaiPunjabi #TATAIPL2024 | @liaml4893 | @SRazaB24 | @HarshalPatel23 pic.twitter.com/q6favxHXDW
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 24, 2024

Jitesh Sharma has played some good cameos here and there but there is no consistency in his batting. Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma have shown what they can do and right now they are the only positive in PBKS' batting. Sam Curran has done decently in the tournament so far. His contributions in both departments are vital to PBKS. He won the first game for PBKS with the bat and showed his bowling prowess in the match against LSG, picking up three wickets.

Liam Livingstone once again failed as a batter but did bowl a brilliant 4-over spell. Harpreet Brar, who started the season on a high is now struggling to get anything fruitful from his bowling. But, he is a good spinner and will try to make a comeback strongly.

Who is the biggest Ashu fan? 🤔
Look between Y and O in your keyboard! ⌨️#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/mbEQqoBaGf
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 24, 2024

Harshal Patel finally delivered a good spell this season. He picked up three wickets against Gujarat in the previous match but has to repeat it and be a consistent performer with the bowl. Kagiso Rabada is the main strength of Punjab's bowling unit but the Proteas seamer also struggled against Gujarat Titans. Arshdeep Singh has bowled well in some games and he is one of the most important players for Punjab.

Possible XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Phil Salt (wk), Shreyas Iyer (C), Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana.

Impact Player Subs: KS Bharat, N Rana, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sakib Hussain, AS Roy, Sherfane Rutherford, Vaibhav Arora, C Sakariya, D Chameera, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Suyash Sharma, Allah Mohammad

Punjab Kings: Prabh Simran Singh, Sam Curran, JM Sharma (wk), Shikhar Dhawan (C), R Rossouw, Ashutosh Sharma, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel

Impact Player Subs: JM Bairstow, Harpreet Singh, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, A Taide, Sikandar Raza, R Dhawan, T Thyagarajan, RD Chahar, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Chris Woakes, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings: Dream XI Team Prediction

**KKR vs PBKS Fantasy Team Prediction | SportzPoint**

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