KKR vs PBKS IPL 2025 Live Score: Hello and a very warm welcome to News18 CricketNext’s live coverage of Match 44 of the Indian Premier League’s 18th season between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
It can’t be clearer that this is the match for KKR. Their season is hanging by a thread, with survival on one side and humiliation of not even coming close to the top-four as defending champions.
PBKS have been their arch nemesis in this period. Last year, their excellent season had a small blot of failure to defend 261 against an inconsistent Punjab team. This time, the only match in which they looked close to their best by bowling out PBKS to 111, they forgot how to bat and lost by 16 runs.
There’s an extra needle to Shreyas Iyer coming back to the Eden Gardens, this time as PBKS’ captain. His team has been inconsistent too, but their away record is near-perfect, in contrast to KKR’s time in Kolkata so far.
The hosts hope that if the contest gives another popcorn-worthy thriller, it will go in their favor for a change.
KKR vs PBKS: Eden Gardens Pitch Report
The Eden Gardens track might help the batters with real bounce and pace, making the ball come off the bat well. Pacers might get some assistance from the pitch at the beginning, while spinners have a role to play in the middle overs.
The last match at this venue saw Gujarat Titans post 198 batting first, and hence, one can expect another run fest this weekend.
KKR vs PBKS Match: Probable Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact subs: Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Lunith Sisodia
Punjab Kings Probable XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact subs: Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Pravin Dubey, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge
