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Punjab Kings (PBKS) lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders as Nitish Rana-led side won the toss and elected to field first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023's clash at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Saturday (April 1).
For KKR, Afghanistan player Rahmanullah Gurbaz made his IPL debut while Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza was included in the playing XI for Punjab Kings.
“We will bowl first, it has rained in the last two days so there would be some moisture. I am excited because very few people get this opportunity. It is a game of cricket so there is not much pressure. The impact players rule is in its initial stage. We have to see that the decisions we take prove to be right. Russell, Narine, Gurbaz and Southee are our overseas players,” KKR skipper Nitish said after winning the toss.
“We would have fielded first. We have got a balanced side, so hopefully we will do good. The team preparation has been good and we will look to dominate the game, hoping for a great season ahead. We are eager to win the trophy and I am looking to lead from the front. My overseas players are - Bhanuka, Nathan Ellis, and Sam Curran, don't remember the fourth name,” PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan said after the toss.
Know the PBKS vs KKR's live scores here
Head-to-Head
Matches Played: 30
PBKS: 10
KKR: 20
Last Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by six wickets.
Pitch report
"Average first innings score in afternoon matches here is 159, nine runs less than evening matches. Also, 80 percent matches have been won by teams chasing. A lot of that has to do with the moisture in the surface. However, this pitch is light brown in colour which tells me there's not a lot of moisture. It's also very hard, so it might be more even for teams batting first and chasing. There's a good covering of grass, looks quite even. Dimensions of the ground are unique. If you go to the eastern side, it's the larger of the two boundaries - 72 meters in distance, and also against the wind. That's not where you want to hit. Down the ground is 77 meters. Spinners would want to capitalise on that," Darren Ganga analyses the pitch.
KKR's Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Anukul Roy, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Subs: Suyash, Arora, Jagadeesan, Venkatesh Iyer and Wiese.
PBKS' Playing XI: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Sam Curran, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Shahrukh Khan, 8 Nathan Ellis, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh.
Subs: Rishi Dhawan, Taide, Matt Short, Bhatia and Rathee.
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