Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, head-to-head record, weather forecast and much, much more ahead of the 21st game of the new Indian Premier League season
Punjab Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 21st match of the 2021 IPL.
The game is scheduled for 7.30pm IST (3pm BST) on Monday, April 26, 2021.
Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium is hosting this game.
Well, not Kolkata Knight Riders. Their latest defeat - a fourth in five games - came against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, who were marooned alongside them at the bottom of the table.
Their dismal form was typified by the runout of Eoin Morgan, who fell without facing a ball after a drive from opener Rahul Tripathi hit the England captain's bat as he sought to fling himself out of the way, instead leaving him stranded in the middle of the pitch.
Punjab Kings, on the other hand, have enjoyed a decent - though still mixed - start to their campaign, winning two of their five games. A win over KKR would take Punjab four points clear of their Monday opponents.
Dafabet have positioned Punjab Kings as clear favourites for this one, offering odds of 3/4 on KL Rahul's side. Kolkata Knight Riders can be backed at 21/20.
Rahul himself, who has rediscovered his form after a quiet period, is favourite to top-score for Punjab, with odds of 15/8. For Kolkata, you can get odds of 11/4 on Shubman Gill to do the same.
As for which side will have a more prosperous powerplay, Punjab Kings are being tipped at 3/4 with KKR at 6/5.
Nicholas Pooran has endured a rather torrid start to his Indian Premier League campaign, but he remains one to watch given his immense talent.
His West Indies compatriot, Chris Gayle, has reinvented himself to become one of the T20 game's most damaging No.3 hitters.
Kolkata Knight Riders off-spinner Sunil Narine has also had a fairly quiet beginning to this year's competition, but he could see himself promoted up the order to arrest KKR's batting troubles. Despite his recent struggles, he remains 14th in the T20 Player Index.
Kolkata Knight Riders were criticised on social media after Saturday's defeat for not promoting Andre Russell higher up the order as their batsmen struggled to put together a competitive total against Rajasthan Royals, so expect to see the West Indies allrounder better utilised on Monday.
For Punjab, the inclusion of leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi against Mumbai Indians proved crucial on Friday. Whether they opt to pick him once again, given the dangers facing spinners in Ahmedabad - where dew played a key role in India's T20I series against England - will be interesting.
The two teams have played each other 27 times.
Punjab Kings wins: 9
Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 18
With no likelihood of rain in Ahmedabad and temperatures expected to sore to 43 degrees, another full and uninterrupted game is expected.
No, this match will be played behind closed doors owing to the Covid-19 situation in India.
Punjab Kings have blown hot and cold so far this season, but on current form it is hard to look past a victory, given KKR's early-season struggles.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (c), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer
Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (c, wk), Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami
KKR: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Our coverage of the IPL is brought to you in association with Dafabet India. For more on Dafabet and to place a bet, click here
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