PK vs KKR 21st Match Prediction

PK vs KKR Team Previews

Punjab Kings

This is going to be an interesting match for Punjab Kings. It finally managed to get its team combination right for a slow Chennai pitch and may need to make changes once more. Fabian Allen may be swapped out for someone like Jhye Richardson to make better use of the conditions.

Moises Henriques has done enough to keep his place as someone who can bowl with the new ball up front and bolster the batting lineup. Also, there is no doubt that pressure must be mounting on Nicholas Pooran to score some runs with Dawid Malan waiting on the bench.

Pooran is not going to be dropped in this match but he is getting ever closer to being dropped.

KL Rahul has been criticized for his strike rate but he has been the biggest factor in the two matches that his team has won in IPL 2021. With Mayank Aggarwal and Chris Gayle also hitting some form, the Punjab Kings batting is pretty decent.

They have Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, and Shahrukh Khan in the team so they can probably afford to go a bit harder in what should be better batting conditions.

Punjab Kings does not have the best bowling lineup but it does have six options in its team. Moises Henriques was quite good with the new ball and could be given that rile once more. We think Jhye Richardson, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami, and Arshdeep Singh are all going to be a part of the attack for this match.

If Punjab Kings can get some early breakthroughs then they should be able to give KKR a run for its money.

Kolkata Knight Riders

After two weeks of the competition, KKR appears to be the team that is struggling the most in IPL 2021. It has the best all-rounder in T20 cricket but does not seem to know what to do with him. Even the other tactics, in general, have been quite bizarre.

Also, the form of its leading players is very concerning. Shubman Gill is having a very poor IPL so far, Nitish Rana seems to have cooled off after a good start, Eoin Morgan cannot buy a run right now, and the bowling attack is quite underwhelming.

In the one match where Andre Russell came to the crease with some overs to bat, he very nearly won them the match from a position that KKR should have had no chance. The current batting lineup of KKR is quite brittle and seems to lack the X-factor needed to compete effectively.

Adding Sunil Narine to the attack has not had the impact that they would have hoped either. His bowling is decent but nowhere near as effective as it used to be. His batting also seems to have deteriorated and we are not sure if he justifies a place in the starting eleven just yet.

Shivam Mavi was very good in the only match he played and Varun Chakravarthy has been the best bowler for KKR so far. Prasiddh Krishna has not been to pick early wickets, though, and Pat Cummins continues to be startlingly expensive for a bowler of his stature.

KKR has some very big names in its squad, some very expensive players that it splurged on in the auction but they do not seem to be working very well at the moment. You can’t write them off but they seem to be in a rut that can be difficult to come out of.