🏏IPL 2023: Match 2 - PBKS vs KKR on 01/04/23 at 3:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 2 - Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on 01/04/23 at 3:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag and Logo credit goes to Sandy aka Sevenstreaks

1st Double Header of the tournament

Punjab Kings and KKR clash under new leadership

Punjab and KKR finished sixth and seventh last season - they have new captains to try and make the playoffs this year

Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders begin IPL 2023 with some similarities. After a disappointing previous season, they both have a new captain and coach combination this year - Shikhar Dhawan and Trevor Bayliss for Punjab, and Nitish Rana and Chandrakant Pandit for KKR - though Kolkata's leadership change was forced upon them because of Shreyas Iyer's injury.

Their squads are also missing key personnel. Punjab are without Jonny Bairstow for the entire season, and will not have Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada for their first game. KKR are without Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das, who are on national duty.

Punjab have not made the playoffs since 2014, but like last year they start with promise, having bought Sam Curran with a record-breaking bid at the auction. KKR, on the other hand, had to put together their squad with the smallest purse, after spending a lot of money on pre-auction trades to bring in Shardul Thakur and Lockie Ferguson.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 2

Deadline for toss prediction: 2:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 3:29 PM IST

PPS: I am going to post this thread a bit early and next one a bit late at around 6:30PM IST. Stay tuned.

Pitch Report:

The pitch at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali is known to be a balanced surface. Although, it has become quite batting-friendly over the years, especially in the limited-overs formats. The fast bowlers, however, will get some assistance with the new ball early in the innings. Looking at the previous T20 matches, the chasing units have won the majority of the games. The captain winning the toss, hence, might decide to field first.

Weather Report:

The weather at the IS Bindra Stadium is expected to be clear on April 1. There is a high probability of rain being a spoilsport during the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders with 80 per cent precipitation predicted. The wind speed will be around 7-13 km/h during the 20-over clash. The temperature could hover around 14 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius, while the humidity is anticipated to be around 63-70 per cent.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 2

Deadline for toss prediction: 2:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 3:29 PM IST

PPS: I am going to post this thread a bit early and next one a bit late at around 6:30PM IST. Stay tuned.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 2

Deadline for toss prediction: 2:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 3:29 PM IST

PPS: I am going to post this thread a bit early and next one a bit late at around 6:30PM IST. Stay Tuned.

Stats that matter

• Shikhar Dhawan has not scored a fifty in 11 appearances as captain in the IPL, even though he is one of the most consistent batters in the tournament. He is the only batter to score 450+ runs in seven consecutive seasons.
• Prabhsimran Singh was the third highest run-scorer in the most recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - 320 runs with a strike-rate of 142 and average of 53.30. Jitesh Sharma has the third-highest T20 strike-rate among Indians (148), behind only Suryakumar Yadav (149) and Prithvi Shaw (152).
• KKR will be aching for some solid starts after trying six different combinations last season. In IPL 2022, their openers had the lowest average (15.8), far behind the second-worst team Gujarat Titans, who averaged 26.40 for the first wicket.
• Andre Russell (178) and Sunil Narine (163) are the two batters with the highest strike-rate in IPL history (min. 1000 runs). Russell's ball-per-six ratio of 6.5 in the IPL is significantly better than second-placed Nicholas Pooran (9.3).

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 2

Deadline for toss prediction: 2:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 3:29 PM IST

PPS: I am going to post this thread a bit early and next one a bit late at around 6:30PM IST. Stay Tuned

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Punjab Kings

Possible bat-first XI: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Rishi Dhawan, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh.

If Punjab bat first, they could pick only three overseas players - Rajapaksa, Raza and Curran - and bring in Ellis as the Impact Player for Rajapaksa in the second innings. If they end up needing an extra batter in the first innings, they could bring in Raj Bawa for someone who's already dismissed and still have six bowling options.

Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Shahrukh Khan, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Rishi Dhawan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Arshdeep Singh.

If Punjab bowl first, bringing in Rajapaksa as the Impact Player at No. 3 for Ellis or Chahar is a straight swap that strengthens their batting while chasing.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Possible bat-first XI: 1 N Jagadeesan, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Venkatesh Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Shardul Thakur 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy/ Suyash Sharma.

Full of allrounders, KKR bat until No. 8, so they could look to bring in an extra bowler in the second innings.

Possible bowl-first XI: 1 N Jagadeesan (wk), 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Nitish Rana (capt), 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy/Suyash Sharma.

If KKR name only three overseas players if they bowl first, they could bring in either Rahmanullah Gurbaz or David Wiese as the Impact Player in the second innings. They could consider bringing in Wiese in the first innings as well, if they want an extra bowling option.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 2

Deadline for toss prediction: 2:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 3:29 PM IST

PPS: I am going to post this thread a bit early and next one a bit late at around 6:30PM IST. Stay tuned.

Quotes

"One of things that we thought was lacking last year was not able to finish off innings with the bat. That was one of the reasons why we decided to go after a young all-rounder like Sam. He gives us a strength in the middle-order and he is a world-class bowler as well."

Trevor Bayliss on Sam Curran

"I don't follow anyone's captaincy style, I just want to captain in my manner. I know that if I follow someone, then I will lose my touch. So I want to lead this side the only way I know."Nitish Rana, the new KKR captain

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 2

Deadline for toss prediction: 2:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 3:29 PM IST

PPS: I am going to post this thread a bit early and next one a bit late at around 6:30PM IST. Stay tuned.

Thanks for the tag Rajji 🤗

PBKS🥳

Sent my predictions 🥰 anyone here supporting kings xi punjab?

KKR are damn too weak this season to expect anything but will continue the support.😳😆

Match 2 Prediction: KKR win (Narine MVP)

Match 3 Prediction: LSG win (KLR MVP)