KOL vs PBKS Dream11 Prediction: Punjab Kings should get the better of Kolkata in this match. Punjab was the winner of the previous fixture earlier this season and is expected to repeat the same in this match considering their heavy batting lineup and the conditions at the Eden Gardens.
Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, Match 53
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Kolkata won their last game against Hyderabad away from home and Punjab is coming on the back of a defeat against Mumbai, having failed to defend more than 200.
In fact Punjab conceded more than 200 and scored with the bat in their last four outings.
And Eden Gardens has been brilliant for the batters this season with an average first innings score of 211.5 this season.
Both Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be players to watch out for, especially if they bat first.
Gurbaz scored 81 off 39 last time Kolkata played at the Eden. Moreover, two of his half centuries this season came at the Eden Gardens.
Jason Roy, on the other hand, made 61 off 26 in the only innings he played here this season.
Kolkata has not been a great wicket taker in the powerplay at their home this season.
Therefore, Punjab’s top order comprising the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh can come handy as well.
However, both of them have scored at an average around 20 in the last four matches of Punjab.
Rinku Singh has highest runs at Eden Gardens this season, including two half centuries.
Left arm pacers have got a good amount of wickets at this venue and Kolkata has the highest number of dismissals (19) than any other team against left arm seamers this season.
Arshdeep Singh is Punjab’s highest wicket taker this season with 16 wickets at a very impressive strike rate of 13.8.
Andre Russell has taken a wicket at the Eden this season in every 9 balls. Moreover, he has 14 wickets at a strike rate of 11 against Punjab in his IPL career.
Punjab Kings averages 16.29 against right arm leg spinners this season. Kolkata would like to bring Suyash Sharma back in action.
Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma have been Punjab’s best batters in the second half of the season, scoring at 168 and 220 strike rate respectively.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa was crucial in Punjab’s win over Kolkata in their previous meeting earlier this season. If he comes into the XI, will be an interesting option for the visitors.
Average 1st innings score: 211.5 (IPL 2023)
Highest run-chase in last three years: 189
Average 1st innings: wickets: 5
Average 2nd innings wickets: 7
Win % of team batting first: 55%
Win % of team batting second: 42.8%
Last three matches at the venue:
Best and worst at the venue in IPL 2023
Most runs: Rinku (176 runs), Gurbaz (138 runs), Rana (107 runs), Roy (61 off 26 in 1 inns)
Most wickets: Varun (6), Russell (4), Suyash (4)
Poor with bat: Venkatesh (4 inns, 44 runs at 84.62), Russell (4 inns 46 runs)
Poor with ball: Narine ( 4 inns, 3 wickets)
Powerplay:
1st inns: 6 wickets lost
2nd inns: 8 wickets lost
Middle overs:
1st inns: 8 wickets lost
2nd inns: 14 wickets lost
Death overs:
1st inns: 8 wickets lost
2nd inns: 6 wickets lost
Bat first runs: Venkatesh (156), Rinku (153), Gurbaz (146)
Bat second runs: Rana (171), Rinku (163), Venkatesh (147)
Bowl first wickets: Narine (4), Russell (3), Varun (3)
Bowl second wickets: Varun (11), Suyash (7), Ruseell (6)
Bat first runs: Dhawan (263), Jitesh (151), Curran (126)
Bat second runs: Raza (106), Prabhsimran (101), Jitesh (88)
Bowl first wickets: Curran (5), Arshdeep (4), Rabada (4)
Bowl second wickets: Arshdeep (12), Ellis (8), Chahar (2)
Most runs: Roy (137), Rinku (136), Rana (121), Gurbaz (81)
Most wickets: Varun (5), Russell (4), Suyash (3), Shardul (2 in 1 inns)
Most runs: Livingstone (155), Jitesh (119), Taide (108), Tewatia (42 in last 14 balls)
Most wickets: Arshdeep (7), Ellis (3 in 2 inns), Livingstone (2 in last 4 overs)
Poor form alert (KOL)
Narine has only one wicket in the last four matches.
Venkatesh Iyer scored 69 runs at a strike rate of 107.81 and an average of 17.25 in the last four matches.
Poor form alert (PBKS)
Dhawan has 59 runs since his return from injury with a best score of 30
Shahrukh Khan bats way below but still could only score 8 runs off 12 in his last 2 innings
Rahul Chahar has only 1 wicket in last 15 overs
Sam Curran has 2 wickets in the last four matches.
Rahul Chahar has the highest number of wickets against Kolkata than any other team in his IPL career.
But the wrist spinner is having a horrible 2023 season so far, taking only 3 wickets in 10 games.
Still it might be worth taking risk of picking him in your XI for this match as Kolkata has 12 dismissals against right arm wrist spinners and averaging around 18.
Andre Russell has a good all-round record against Punjab but as mentioned earlier, Chahar in Punjab can finally make a difference as the Jamaican got out against right arm wrist spinners four times this season so far.
Prabhsimran has only one good innings in his last 4 outings. But considering Kolkata has been very poor with the ball in the powerplay at the Eden Gardens, Prabhsimran might be worth taking the risk.
Nathan Ellis, Shardul Thakur and Vaibhav Arora are other risky players who can be a worthy pick ahead of this game due to their wicket taking abilities in any phase.
Nitish Rana has been one of the crucial batters for Kolkata this season.
However, his record against Punjab is not convincing as he has only 55 runs in 4 innings against Punjab since 2021.
Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy.
Probable Impact Sub: Suyash Sharma
Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short/Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis.
Probable Impact Sub: Atharva Taide, Harpreet Brar
High risk to avoid players with high ownership (try to fit in most players with more than 60% ownership with not more than 2 differentials)
Best leagues for safe play
Rs 36 – 10 spots (top 5 get 60)
Rs 60 – 10 spots (top 5 get 100)
Rs 119 – 10 spots (top 5 get 200)
Rs 590 – 10 spots (top 5 get 1000)
Rs 7777 – 7 spots (top 4 get 10k, 5th gets 7777)
*Same team can be used for other multiplier leagues
*Same team can be used for multiple joins in three-team leagues or head-to-heads
Spots left: 3
Highest ownerships from outside base team: Gurbaz, Curran, Roy, Venkatesh, Ellis, Thakur
Gurbaz vs Ellis
Gurbaz has been brilliant at the top, especially when KOL bats first where he has scored both of his half centuries this month.
Ellis on the other hand is a different player altogether when Punjab are defending a target.
Venkatesh vs Roy
Venkatesh has struck around 84 at the Eden Gardens this season and has an average of 11.
Meanwhile, Roy scored 61 off 26 in his only innings there and has been Kolkata’s best batter in the second half of the season.
Curran vs Thakur
Curran has not done much with both bat and ball this season except in the game against Mumbai.
Thakur is a genuine wicket-taker in all phases of the game. However, he only has one wicket in the Eden Gardens but coming on the back of 2 wickets from the last game against SRH.
If KOL bat first
Complete team with inclusion of Gurbaz, Ellis, Roy, Curran
Captaincy choices: Varun, Russell, Livingstone, Roy
Do not captain: Jitesh
If PBKS bat first
Complete team with three of Gurbaz, Roy, Ellis, Thakur
Captaincy choices: Dhawan, Arshdeep, Russell, Rinku
Do not captain: Thakur
Medium-risk leagues to join
Rs 72 – 20 spots (top prize 300)
Rs 75 – 50 spots
Rs 165 – 11 spots (top prize 500)
Rs 329 – 35 spots (top prize 2.7k)
Rs 777 – 11 spots (top prize 3k)
Rs 1999 – 11 spots (top prize 7.5k)
Rs 2477 – 7 spots (top prize 7k)
Best leagues to join
Rs 1390 – 25 spots (top prize 10k)
Rs 3999 – 30 spots (top 10 get 10k each)
Spots left: 3
KOL bat first
Avoid picking Chahar
Pick three of Roy, Curran, Suyash, Varun
Captaincy picks: Rana, Suyash, Livingstone
PBKS bat first
Pick three of Dhawan, Venkatesh, Arshdeep, Roy
Avoid picking Varun
Captaincy picks: Rinku, Russell, Dhawan, Arshdeep
Try to fit in 7 players with more than 70% ownership leaving 2 big players out who have potential risks
Have three differential picks with ownership less than 25%
Join with more than 5 teams and alternate differentials
Change 2 out of the 7 players with 70% ownership (in team 6 onwards)
Pick one player who was brought in for this game
Choices for this game
Leave Narine out in T1-T5, pick him from T6 onwards
Make Suyash c/vc in at least one team.
Make Arshdeep and Rinku c/vc in 1 team
Roy and Gurbaz c/vc in 1 team.
Make Dhawan and Prabhsimran c/vc in 1 team if Punjab batting first.
Captain Livingstone in 1 team.
Captain Ruseell in 1 team.
Have 1 team with most of the Kolkata batters if they are chasing.
Avoid picking Punjab bowlers if they are batting 1st.
Arshdeep + Ellis c/vc in at least one team if PBKS is bowling 2nd.
Base team for T1-T5
Jitesh, Gurbaz, Rana, Rinku, Russell, Arshdeep
Other picks in order: Ellis (3 teams if PBKS bowling 2nd) Chahar (2 teams), Roy (3 team), Curran (in 2 teams if PBKS bowls first), Livingstone (in 3 teams), Suyash (in 3 teams if KOL batting first), Varun (in 3 teams if Kolkata bowling second), Prabhsimran (2 teams), Dhawan (3 teams if PBKS batting first), Thakur (2 teams), Narine (2 teams)
One major differential pick: Vaibhav Arora (2 teams), Harshit Rana (2 teams), Khejroliya (if plays in 2 teams), Rajapaksa (in 2 teams if plays)
Punjab Kings should get the better of Kolkata in this match. Punjab was the winner of the previous fixture earlier this season and is expected to repeat the same in this match considering their heavy batting lineup and the conditions at the Eden Gardens.
