Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for 52 games of Vivo Indian Premier League in the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on 3rd May 2019. The match will be set about at 8.00 PM at local time. Both of the teams have already played 12 matches and managed to win in 5 matches at all. They shared the same amounts of points at point table but the overall run rates of KKR is better than KXIP and that’s the only thing separates these two teams on point table right now.

KXIP and KKR are facing each other as Playoff chances are still on the loose:

It will be a very massive task for both of the teams to get a ticket in the playoff but chances still remain for them. So, it’s easy to surmise both of the teams will put their hearts out to win the game at Mohali. Kolkata Knight Riders got a huge confidence boost before the big match as they beat strong Mumbai Indians in their last game while Kings XI Punjab got a huge setback after the loss of their latest game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

They will try to win the game at any cost at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.

Here, we can differentiate between the overall strength of the two teams ahead of the huge schedule.

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab fails to win in their last three matches and the chances for them to get the ticket of the playoff is heavy hangs in the balance. Their last defeat was against the Sunrisers Hyderabad by a margin of 45 runs which is a huge loss considering in a t20 game. Their moral power is at low and they have to gather their pieces and must have to strengthen their willpower if they want to be victorious.

Batting Department

Main Batsmen of Kings XI Punjab – Chris Gayle, David Miller, Mayank Agarwal

Kings XI Punjab possesses a very good batting lineup but yet failed so far to do any remarkable things. One of their big pillar David Miller is non-convincing so far and their middle order department is not working surprisingly. They are all struggling too much in the current campaign. Only Mayank Agarwal is trying to do something wondrous but his contribution isn’t good enough. Apart from Chris Gayle, K L Rahul is the only consistent batsman and that’s the biggest reason Punjab team is paying a heavy price. No other batsman is contributing anything neither backup the team as Punjab’s horrific show continues.

Now, it is expected that they will do something intriguing in front of their home fans.

Bowling Department

Main Bowlers of King Xi Punjab – Ravichandran Ashwin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh

The bowling department of Punjab is very weak in this campaign. KXIP is the team who gave the fastest half-century in IPL 2019 in just four overs! This is such a matter of shame.

The selection of the bowling department of KXIP is very questionable as they failed to recruit any influential figure in this department.

Captain Ravichandran Ashwin is picking a wicket in a coherent basis and also very selfish to give runs to the batsmen of other teams. Their recruitment of Mujeeb Ur Rahman didn’t live up the expectations entirely as he fails to make any worthwhile impact on his bowling so far. Mohammed Shami is doing moderate comparatively but he’s very expensive in economical point.

It is now necessary for KXIP to sort out this problem though they have a very little time to fix this. They have to add another extra bowler and try to remain calm and hold out the composure if they want to survive against a quite strong batting line up of Kolkata.

Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders got some positive sensation after sustaining the worst spell. They reacted smartly and their confidence is now a bit of high. They gave Andre Russell more time to play and it helped them significantly as he did some appalling job to stabilize their middle order.

Batting Department

Main Batsmen of KKR – Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn

The promotion of Shubman Gill helped KKR heavily as they overcome a strong Mumbai side. Andre Russell’s inclusion in number 3 position also played a meaningful role for them. The good form of players like Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn also give them much hope.

After a dirty spell of run their batsmen back to their best and it’s very much possible that they can shrivel the doomed bowling lineup of KXIP. Although they will be the guest in IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, the form and pace are in KKR’s favor undoubtedly.

Bowling Department

Main Bowlers of KKR – Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav

The bowling department of KKR is not that gripping in comparison to their batting department. Although their bowling lineup is weak they did a pretty good job against Mumbai Indians. Andre Russell is delivering good performances in vital time and he needs to carry out another marvelous job against KXIP to keep Christ Gayle at bay.

Sunil Narine is also very economical and doing a good job. Their other figure Kuldeep Nayar’s inclusion is not guaranteed though. But, they can bet on Harry Gurney as he could be useful in the relatively slow wicket of Mohali’s Bindra stadium.

Head to Head Record

Both teams have faced 24 times so far. Kolkata emerged victorious for 16 times while Punjab managed to win half of the winning numbers of Kolkata, only 8 times. In this current campaign, KXIP beat up by Kolkata by 28 runs.

Toss Prediction

The stadium of IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali is kinda slow and it offered little for batsmen. It is expected that both of the teams will try to choose bowling first if they win the toss. Chasing runs are a much safer option in Mohali than giving an opponent the challenge.

Match Prediction

Both teams are actually going on the wrong phase although KKR won their last game against Mumbai. As Rajasthan’s last match against Bangalore carried away by rain, it gives a glimpse of hope to both KKR and KXIP although the chances are still very little.

KXIP has been out of form completely and fails to win in their last three games.

KKR beat strong side of Mumbai which gives them an extra morale boost ahead of the match.

Overall, Kolkata Knight Riders have much more variation in every department to denigrate Kings XI Punjab in their home stadium.

SO, our overall observation is clear – Kolkata is favorite and unless something noteworthy happens, KXIP will not win and their time is pretty much over in IPL 2019.

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