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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) as Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the Eden Gardens stadium on April 26.
What did the captains say after the toss?
After winning the toss, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer said:
"We are batting first. Since we are playing on the same wicket they played on. Can see a few cracks, will get an idea on how its playing. It's always been great to play in front of this crowd. Another day to come here and embrace. We have been getting brilliant starts. We are talking about a few situations, need to play to our best ability and believe in ourselves. I want the bowlers to take wickets, it changes the momentum. The more wickets we take in the powerplay, gives a chance to the other bowlers. Maxwell and Omarzai come in".
Meanwhile, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane, after the toss, said:
"It's all about playing good cricket, need to chase down whatever the target is. Our bowling has been bowling really well. They have improved a lot. The boys have disappointed with the bat, but need to be brave in this format. Our batting unit needs to do well in this game. We have been playing good cricket in patches. It's all about living in the moment and be positive."
Kolkata Knight Riders' Playing XI:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anrich Nortje, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy
Punjab Kings' Playing XI:
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey
Pitch Report
"The square boundaries are 62m and 64m respectively, while it's 75m straight down the ground. As a spinner it'll be difficult to defend with the smaller boundaries. The pitch looks pretty decent. There are a few bare patches around the good length area with a bit of grass around it. Looks like a pretty dry surface, probably the third game of the season played on this wicket. Scoring runs has been difficult. The mystery spinners will be in action tonight. Need to hit the hard lengths, will be tricky in terms of batting. Scoring runs will be comparatively easier against the pace bowlers," Matthew Hayden and Graeme Swann analysed the pitch.
PBKS vs KKR's head-to-head record
KKR and PBKS have clashed with each other 34 times in IPL so far. While KKR have notched 21 wins, PBKS have emerged victorious 13 times respectively.
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