After a few close games, the Punjab Kings are back at their home ground and ready to bounce back when they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 31 of IPL 2025. The game will be held at the new PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh, and the Kings are eager to give their fans a reason to cheer. With both teams showing good form this season, fans can expect a thrilling contest.
What to Expect from the Pitch?
The pitch at New Chandigarh has seen average first innings scores of 177 in the last 10 games. Teams batting first have had better success, winning about 60% of the matches here. That means putting runs on the board early could be key. Our batters will look to take full advantage of the conditions and set the tone from the start.
Head to head battle :
Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders have faced each other on 33 occasions in T20s. While Punjab Kings have won 12 matches, their rivals have emerged victorious on 21 instances. The last 5 T20 contests have seen Punjab Kings win 3 times and Kolkata Knight Riders 2 times. The highest score in these 5 encounters is 262 by Punjab Kings.
Players to Watch :
Leading from the front, Shreyas Iyer has been in sublime touch with the bat, scoring 250 runs including three fifties, and will once again be key to setting the tone. Youngster Priyansh Arya has turned heads with his fearless strokeplay and already has 194 runs to his name this season. In the middle order, Nehal Wadhera and Prabhsimran Singh have brought stability and flair, while Shashank Singh has impressed with his calm finishing skills. With this batting unit clicking well together, the Kings will be hoping for another solid show at home.
Punjab Kings Squad: Harnoor Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Josh Inglis (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Vishnu Vinod (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Kuldeep Sen, Lockie Ferguson, Praveen Dubey, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Luvnith Sisodia (wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakaravarthy.
