IPL 2023 KKR vs PBKS - consistency key if either side has hopes of progressing

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – Eden Gardens

Average first innings score: 212
Average first innings winning score: 222
Average powerplay score: 54
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 75% / 25%

Team form KKR vs PBKS

KKR: WLWLL
PBKS: LWLWL

Recent meetings: PBKS won by 7 runs (D/L)

Preview KKR vs PBKS

The Knight Riders kept their mathamatical chances of reaching the playoffs alive by winning in Hyderabad on Thursday while PBKS will be disappointed not to have defended their total of 212 at home to Mumbai Indians earlier in the week.

Both sides primary issue this year has been consistency and the ability to string a series of wins together that would see them making serious gains up the table. With time fast running out this season and both currently outside the top 4 then it feels like a must win match for both if they are to make a late push for the playoffs.

Team	Best winning streak in IPL 2023	Longest losing streak in IPL 2023
CSK	3	2
DC	2	5
GT	3	1
KKR	2	4
LSG	2	1
MI	3	2
PBKS	2	2
RR	3	2
RCB	2	2
SRH	2	3

Winnings and losing streaks for teams in IPL 2023

The table above shows just how difficult it is to go on that kind of late surge in a tournament where teams are all fairly well matched and anyone could beat anyone else on their day.

Of course, PBKS still carry the not inconsiderable monkey on their back of having failed to finish in the top 4 during any of the last 8 seasons. In fact, they've finished 6th in each of the last 4 tournaments and it wouldn't be a major surprise if they were to do so again this year.

One thing that does work in their advantage is that their next 3 games, starting with this one, are all against sides currently below them in the table. Following this match at Eden Gardens, Punjab play back to back matches against Delhi Capitals, finishing off the season with 2 "home" games at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala.

Whatever the results of those games, PBKS can be fairly happy with the progress they've made this season particularly considering that arguably their 4 best players and certainly some of the most experienced members of their squad in Dhawan, Livingstone, Bairstow and Rabada have been missing for all or part of the season.

In their place relatively inexperienced players like Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh Khan have blossomed while youngsters like Prabhsimran Singh and Atharva Taide have also made encouraging starts to their IPL careers and could become the bedrock for the Kings to build around in the future.

KKR may also be provided with the opportunity to look to the future over the coming matches particularly when it comes to developing their fast bowling stocks. Harshit Rana and former PBKS man Vaibhav Arora have been given game time recently as the Knight Riders seek long term replacements for the ageing Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee.

Statistic	Eden Gardens IPL 2023	Rank vs all other venues
Average 1st innings score	211.5	1st
Average winning score	222.3	1st
Balls per 6	11.1	1st
Average death overs score	61.0	1st

Key pitch stats at Eden Gardens and rank relative to other IPL 2023 venues

We know that the pitches here at Eden Gardens are providing plenty of runs this year. KKR suffered a middle order wobble in their last game here against Gujrat Titans and ended up posting a score of 179 which GT picked off with an impressive 13 balls to spare! Prior to that, every side that has batted first here this season has scored 200+ and won. There is no doubt that both teams have the big hitters to put some seriously big runs on the board in this fixture!

KKR vs PBKS head to head

PBKS bowling vs KKR batting

Eden Gardens has been a bit of a graveyard for fast bowlers this year with a collective economy rate at 9.9 an over. The concern for PBKS when they arrive here then will be that they've conceded 200+ in each of their last 4 innings.

PBKS bowling stats over their last 4 games in IPL 2023

It was noticeable that during their game against Mumbai, PBKS heads started to drop once Ishan Kishan and Sky began to find some momentum even though they were still someway off the Kings impressive total. I noted in a recent blog that this KKR side has been hitting 6s for fun this season and so if some of their powerful batsmen get going then we might see this Punjab team begin to crumble.

Punjab's recent woes with the ball have also underlined their lack of wicket taking spin options. None of their spinners have taken more than 4 wickets this season. While the likes of Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar who have been the Kings most used slow bowling options have generally been economical, they've failed to deliver the kind of middle over penetration that is necessary to limit scoring.

PBKS spin bowling stats in IPL 2023

To put it into context, 6 other franchises have a single spin bowler in their side who have taken 12 or more wickets during the course of IPL 2023.

The over-riding concern here then is that if KKR can get off to a decent start (they have improved over the last couple of games in this match) then KKR have the batting power to really do some damage whether that is through the middle overs with the likes of Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer who will be happy to take on the spinners or through their power hitters at the death like Andre Russell who has a very good record against some of the Kings late innings bowling options.

Andre Russell T20 head to head vs PBKS's primary death bowlers

KKR bowling vs PBKS batting

Similar to PBKS, KKR have had their problems controlling the run scoring this season. Their strength is certainly in their slow bowling options and here at Eden Gardens where batsmen have dominated, it's notable that KKR's spinners have taken 13 of the 21 wickets in the first 4 matches played here.

Varun and Suyash Sharma IPL 2023 bowling stats at Eden Gardens

Particularly effective have been the twin wrist-spin options and given what was written above about PBKS's troubles with wicket taking from their slower bowlers that may prove to be a decisive factor in the outcome of this game.

Narine vs Sam Curran T20 head to head

PBKS were particularly aggressive against Sunil Narine when these 2 sides met earlier in the season. His Oval Invincibles teammate Sam Curran has certainly enjoyed going after one of the most experienced bowlers in the IPL and there's no reason to think that this attack minded Kings line-up will hold back in this game either.

The chances of this being a run fest are also enhanced when you consider that KKR are going at 11.4 an over at the death, only Mumbai Indians have a worse economy rate during the final 5 overs. This game might ultimately come down to a slug fest as to who can clear the boundary most frequently.

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All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
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IPL stadium statistics.
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