Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh got PBKS off to an explosive start before captain Shreyas Iyer joined in; however, Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen’s disciplined pace bowling caused havoc in the Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Scorecard.
Venkatesh Iyer went for a sweep on Glenn Maxwell delivery but missed and was out LBW even with review being considered.
| Match No. | Season | Venue | Winner | Key Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IPL 2025 | Eden Gardens | Punjab Kings | PBKS chased target comfortably after strong top-order start |
| 2 | IPL 2024 | Eden Gardens | Punjab Kings | PBKS recorded a historic high-scoring chase |
| 3 | IPL 2024 | Mohali | Kolkata Knight Riders | KKR won with disciplined bowling in death overs |
| 4 | IPL 2023 | Eden Gardens | Kolkata Knight Riders | KKR defended a modest total successfully |
| 5 | IPL 2023 | Mohali | Punjab Kings | PBKS won via aggressive middle-order batting |
PBKS vs KKR
After a rocky start to IPL 2025, PBKS appear to have found their groove and are in position for a top-four finish.
A win against KKR would put them atop of the table with five games remaining; with their middle order remaining secure they may even challenge for victory come title time!
KKR have struggled at Eden Gardens this season, losing all four matches played there so far this campaign. Their match against PBKS will be crucial as they attempt to recapture their winning formula from last season.
Kolkata Knight Riders have fallen far from their former selves, according to Ajinkya Rahane’s assessment. Ajinkya pointed the finger at their batters for their collapse against Punjab despite what he termed as an easily chaseable target being chased down, while their bowlers couldn’t do much better, either: their attack collapsed in the final overs.
With only eight players remaining from their championship-winning side, KKR are desperately searching for answers.
Following their loss against PBKS last weekend and facing possible relegation to the bottom of the table, the KKR have begun searching for solutions to fix their batting woes; otherwise they risk falling further behind in the race for playoff spots.
This season has seen KKR struggle with their batting, with one key issue being their mental approach when they bat.
Accustomed to playing on flat tracks where everything comes their way easily, they tend to lose focus when facing pitches requiring more thought and planning; leading them to being taken apart by fast bowlers in recent games.
KKR have struggled this season to score on this ground and their poor bowling performances have only compounded this difficulty. If they wish to succeed they must adapt their mentality and learn how to play on more demanding pitches or they will remain short of targets.
PBKS have been one of the top teams at home this season and will look to add to their impressive record against KKR.
Their strong bench will allow them to select either Moeen Ali, Spencer Johnson, or Anrich Nortje as their fourth overseas slot option; furthermore they could pair Harshit Rana with Varun Chakravarthy for some special spin action to form an effective attack on this pitch.
KKR vs PBKS
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) are both fighting hard to make the playoffs in Indian Premier League 2025, with KKR currently sitting seventh with three wins from eight matches played, while PBKS sit fifth with five victories against four losses. Their match will take place at Eden Gardens on Saturday April 26.
KKR were forced to make adjustments against Gujarat Titans after failing to score more than 131 in their opening innings, even with Ajinkya Rahane scoring 50 runs and managing just 159 for 8 after 20 overs. Now facing an enthused PBKS side they hope to right their wrongs against an opponent that may pose greater resistance than before.
After seeing that the pitch appeared to be flat and tiring, the home team chose to bowl first with Varun Chakravarthy and Azmatullah Omarzai providing fresh spinners, neither of whom conceded more than six runs in any over. Glenn Maxwell was included as a more effective batsman against spin than Marcus Stoinis in their batting line-up.
Yuzvendra Chahal produced an outstanding performance to end PBKS’ chances of an away victory; taking wickets from Phil Salt, Andre Russell, and Shashank Singh and forcing their side short by 16 runs from reaching their target.
At four points behind, both teams will look to secure a top-four finish in the league by winning three consecutive matches and finishing above Mumbai Indians on Tuesday or Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday, respectively.
This will be the inaugural match in IPL history that PBKS plays at Eden Gardens, making this match significant from an historical perspective as they will play at the same date and venue where they made history by setting the highest successful chase ever achieved in T20 cricket a year ago. Jonny Bairstow and Shahshank Singh led them to an incredible 262/7 score against KKR at that same ground last season.
PBKS, led by former KKR captain Shreyas Iyer and currently one of the strongest teams in this year’s competition, hope to return to the playoff stage after missing it last season. After an inauspicious start to their campaign, they strengthened their squad at the IPL Mega Auction 2025 and now look likely contenders.
David Miller of PBKS has been in amazing form this tournament and scored an unbeaten century against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday, smashing 101 runs off 38 balls including eight fours and seven sixes to help his side overcome a 51 run deficit with two overs to spare.
It was one of the greatest innings seen so far and hopefully David can keep up his good form against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday; hopefully winning the toss could give PBKS an edge!