Kolkata Knight Riders host Punjab Kings in match 53 of IPL 2023 on Monday, May 8. Here's our D3 guide for the KKR vs PBKS match.
Date: 8th May 2023
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Liam Livingstone (PBKS) [Captain]: Liam Livingstone showed why he is one of the most feared batters, hammering an unbeaten 82 off 42 in the previous game against Mumbai Indians. He arrived late in the season but has found his form. Livingstone remains a key player and should enjoy batting at Eden Gardens. Back him as the captain for this contest.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (KKR): Kolkata Knight Riders opener has played a few impactful knocks in the ongoing season. He struck 81 off just 39 deliveries against Gujarat Titans. Gurbaz has scored 183 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 144 with two fifties. Buy a Gurbaz Rario card and you could win big bucks on D3.
Andre Russell (KKR): The Jamaican superstar hasn’t been at his best this season but has found form and fitness in the last few weeks. He has taken four wickets in the last three games and has scored 34 and 24 in the last two innings. His all-round value can not be ignored especially now that he is bowling regularly. Get an Andre Russell Rario card and you could win great rewards.
Liam Livingstone (All-rounder) (Gold Tier) – Ask Price $63
Andre Russell (All-rounder) (Silver Tier) – Ask Price $22
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Matt Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, two teams in a similar situation, will go head to head as they look to climb up on the points table. The match is scheduled to take place at KKR’s home Eden Gardens on Monday evening.
The two teams began their 2023 campaign against each other, where Punjab Kings came out on top by five runs on DLS method.
PBKS are placed seventh on the table with 10 points from as many games and a net run-rate of -0.472. KKR are eighth with eight points from 10 matches, with a net run-rate of -0.103.
KKR recently defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by five runs. Rinku Singh starred with the bat yet again, scoring 46 off 35 to help his side get 171. Varun Chakravarthy was unbelievable in death overs, where he conceded just 12 runs in three of the final five overs to clinch the victory.
Punjab Kings are coming off a six-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians at home. They posted 214 while batting first on the back of Liam Livingstone’s blistering 82* off 42 and Jitesh Sharma’s 49* off 27. But barring Nathan Ellis (2/34) and Rishi Dhawan (1/20), the rest of the bowlers were taken apart.
