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IPL 2023 Predictions: PBKS vs KKR

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The second match of TATA IPL 2023 will witness Punjab Kings clashing with Kolkata Knight Riders at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on April 1st, Saturday.

The home side Punjab Kings will be led by the Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be led by Nitish Rana in the absence of their regular captain Shreyas Iyer who is still recovering from an injury.

Punjab Kings finished in 6th position last season.

Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, finished in 7th spot.

Punjab side is yet to win an IPL title, meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders have won twice.

KKR dominates this rivalry 20-10 with a run of 8 straight wins from 2014-2017.

However, their contests have been more even in recent years with both teams winning two out of the previous four matches against each other.

The Punjab Kings had a strong squad for IPL 2022 but missed out on the playoffs after winning just seven of their 14 matches.

They released nine players, including former skipper Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, and Sandeep Sharma, before the mini-auction last year and acquired six new players.

Their big picket purchase was Sam Curran for a record-breaking INR 18.5 crores.

Punjab Kings have Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Matthew Short as their overseas players.

However, Livingstone will miss the first match due to NOC clearance, while Rabada is away for national duties.

However, Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of IPL 2023 and that is certainly a big loss.

Amongst Indian players, apart from Shikhar Dhawan, they have Arshdeep Singh who has now developed into India’s regular T20 international.

Jitesh Sharma was very good with the bat and as a keeper but Shahrukh Khan or Harpreet Singh Bhatia will have to raise their game to the next level.

On the other hand, KKR retained 14 players and released 15 ahead of the mini-auction.

They made some smart trades, including Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals, Lockie Ferguson, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz from the Gujarat Titans.

Shreyas Iyer’s untimely shoulder injury has put KKR in a fix.

Rana’s surprise elevation to captaincy indicates that the team is banking on the southpaw to come good. The Delhi batter has had a few promising seasons of IPL but lacked consistency.

Another worry for KKR is the lack of quality death over bowlers. Barring Lockie Ferguson, no one can be trusted to bowl at the death.

The pitch at Mohali is likely to favour batters and we can expect a high-scoring game on Saturday.

However, pacers will also have something to work with. Recent results suggest that chasing will be the way to go, with four out of the last five IPL matches being won by teams batting second.

Venue stats

Average Runs Per Wicket 28.46
Average Runs Per Over 8.38
Average 1st Innings score 165 runs
Average 2nd Innings score 180 runs
Winning percentage of batting first 57%
Winning percentage of batting second 43%

 

Punjab Kings Playing XI

Shikhar Dhawan (C), Matthew Short, Prabsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar.

Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI

N Jagadeesan (WK), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nitish Rana (C), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

Who will win

Punjab look the stronger unit compared to KKR.

The inclusion of Sam Curran in the Punjab team can be a deciding factor and hence we expect the Kings to come out trumps.

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.

It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain

Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.

It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.

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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window

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Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.

It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.

Watch the viral video here –

Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.

RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief

As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.

On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.

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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy

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Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.

Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.

The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).

‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar

“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.

Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.

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