Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
In match 42 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are hosting the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. While the Punjab Kings are coming into this fixture on the back of four successive losses, the Shreyas Iyer-led side registered a one-run win in a last-ball thriller to consolidate their position in the top half of the table.
As the two skippers, Iyer and PBKS stand-in captain Sam Curran took the field for the toss, it was the latter who came out on top. Ahead of the match, both sides called in for a change in their respective sides. For Punjab, it was Jonny Bairstow replacing Liam Livingstone, the KKR skipper revealed that their most expensive buy, Mitchell Starc will miss the fixture due to a finger injury.
However, for Livingstone, his form has been a concern, Starc injured his finger in KKR’s last fixture and thus is replaced by Dushmantha Chameera, who is making his debut for the franchise. “We’ve had different players stepping up at different times, that’s the thing I’m pleased about this season. Starcy got a cut on his finger in the last game, Dushmantha Chameera replaces him,” Iyer said at toss.
KKR vs PBKS Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Dushmantha Chameera, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana.
Impact Sub: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran (C), Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Vishwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary.