The 2nd match of the Indian Premier League 2023 is scheduled to play between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday 1st April 2023 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.

Punjab Kings are going to start their campaign in this edition of the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders. Both teams are not much stronger teams as we compare with the other teams in this tournament and this match will be crucial. We know that KKR vs PBKS did not make any smart moves in the auctions of IPL. Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders had made some key changes in their squad but we think that they are going to struggle in this season of IPL. Our reports had confirmed that Kolkata Knight Riders are a strong team to win this match and our other sources are also confirming this. Let’s have a deep look at the strengths and weaknesses of both teams.

Punjab Kings were a strong team in the previous season of the Indian Premier League but they failed to reach the play as they could manage to win just seven out of 14 league matches. They lost seven matches and were holding the sixth position on the points table. They had not made some big changes in their squad. They had added Sam Curran to their squad. They picked Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone as overseas players from the auctions of IPL T20. They have the option to pick a fourth overseas player from Matthew Short or Bhanuka Rajapaksa. They also had faced a massive loss as their main overseas player, Jonny Bairstow had been ruled out from the entire season of the Indian Premier League. We don’t think that any player can replace Jonny Bairstow. Some big names of team India are also part of the squad of Punjab Kings. Shikhar Dhawan had been appointed as the new captain of the Punjab Kings and he will be leading the batting order of this team.

Arshdeep Singh is the product of Punjab Kings who is now a big star and now he had also played 26 T20 matches for India. Remember that he had played 37 matches in the IPL where he picked 40 wickets with an average of 26.35. Jitesh Sharma had just been outstanding in domestic cricket and now he has a golden chance to raise his career from the platform this the best league of the world. Jitesh Sharma is a wicketkeeper-batsman and we think that he will have some early matches to play. If he performs well in the opening matches, he will get more matches to play. Shahrukh Khan is another product of the Indian Premier League and had been good in the previous seasons. Harpreet Singh Bhatia is young Indian talent who is part of IPL. Rahul Chahar was good in some opening seasons of the Indian Premier League but he had been struggling since some previous seasons. Shikhar Dhawan, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, and Mohit Rathee are leading batsmen of Punjab Kings. Sikandar Raza is also part of the squad of Punjab Kings. He performed well in the most recent match and we are sure that he will also give his best performance. Raj Bawa, Nathan Ellis, Vidhwath Kaverappa, and Shivam Singh are part of the bowling squad of Pubajb Kings.

Kolkata Knight Riders have faced a big problem as their main player Shreyas Iyer will not be available for most matches of this season of the Indian Premier League. Shreyas Iyer had been the best batsman of Kolkata Knight Riders and he had played more than one hundred matches in IPL with 2776 runs to his name with an average of 31.55 and his strike rate also had been good. The management of Kolkata Knight Riders doesn’t have the backup of Shreyas Iyer and this is the reason why they had re-arranged the whole batting lineup. Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell are confirmed in the playing eleven of this match. They can also pick Lockie Ferguson and one all-rounder from David Wiese and Shakib Al Hasan. David Wiese had been in good form and he can be the first choice for this match. They have some big names and young players in their squad and we think that they have some depth in the batting and bowling department.

Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana, and Shardul Thakur are local Indian players in the squad of Kolkata Knight Riders while N Jagadeesan is the other best player of T20 cricket in the squad of this team. This is a good combination of batting and bowling but we don’t think that they are strong than the other team’s batting and bowling units. We are sure that they have some good and match-winners overseas players but they don’t have the best local Indian players. Most matches of Kolkata Knight Riders will be unpredictable and interesting. Remember that Kolkata Knight Riders failed to qualify for the playoff of the previous season of the Indian Premier League and won just six out of 14 matches. They lost eight matches and were holding the seventh position on the ladder. Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL championship twice, in 2012 and 2014. They also finished as runners-up in 2018 but they had not been much impressive in some previous editions. We don’t think that they have the ability to win the title of IPL this season but it is a fact that most matches will be very close.

Punjab Kings had played 30 matches against Kolkata Knight Riders where they had won 10 matches while Kolkata Knight Riders had won 20 matches.

Punjab Kings had won three out of the most recent five matches they had played while Kolkata Knight Riders had won two out of five recently played matches.

Kolkata Knight Riders is a strong and well-balanced team and have a strong batting and bowling department which is in good form. The batting and bowling squad of this team is much stronger at least on paper. According to today’s prediction, Kolkata Knight Riders is the favorite team who will win this match. There are many factors that make Kolkata Knight Riders a favorite team to win this match. Some of the key factors are mentioned as under:

• Both teams had picked some best overseas players for this season of IPL
• Shreyas Iyer is not available for this match and this can be a big loss for the Kolkata Knight Riders
• Punjab Kings has a strong batting order than Kolkata Knight Riders
• Punjab Kings also have some best Indian players in their squad
• Kolkata Knight Riders don’t have any good batsman in their middle order

Kolkata Knight Riders is overall a strong team when compared with Punjab Kings. They have the best players in the t20 format of cricket. The batting order of this team is also strong and some well-known hitters of the t20 format are part of the squad of this team, so the winning chances of today’s match for Kolkata Knight Riders have been increased. The equation of who will win today’s cricket match prediction and who will win the cricket match today is mentioned as under.

Kolkata Knight Riders have a 54% chance to win this match
Punjab Kings has a 46% chance to win this match

The toss is going to play an important in the result of each and every match of IPL 2023 as we had observed in the previous editions of this tournament. According to the toss prediction, the team who will win the toss will elect to field first as defending had been difficult in the most recent matches of IPL. Remember that 52% of matches had been won by chasing teams at Narendra Modi Stadium.

The 2nd match of IPL T20, 2023 is going to be held at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. This venue is known for having a good cricket pitch that generally favors fast bowlers in the initial overs but it becomes more batting-friendly as the game progresses. The pitch has a reputation for being true and consistent, which means that it provides a fair contest between bat and ball. We know that the pitch at the PCA Stadium has offered some assistance to spin bowlers in the later middle of the game. The pitch is also known to be a high-scoring ground.

PCA Stadium, Mohali is known as one of the best cricket grounds in India and it provides an excellent platform for a high-quality cricket match. However, the actual conditions on the match day can always vary, so it’s best to get the latest pitch report before making any predictions.

The weather forecast for Mohali is good for this cricket match. There are almost no chances of rain in the region and we are hopeful that we will have a full match to enjoy. The temperature can be 30 to 32 degrees during the match.

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Raj Bawa, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Singh, Vidwath Kaverappa.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (c), Vaibhav Arora, Lockie Ferguson, Harshit Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, N Jagadeesan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

It will be updated shortly

• Date: Saturday, 1st April 2023
• Time: 10:00 AM GMT / 03:30 PM LOCAL / 03:30 PM IST

• Stadium: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium
• Location: Mohali, India
• Opened: 1993
• Capacity: 30000
• Ends: Pavilion End, City End
• Time Zone: UTC +05:30
• Home to: Punjab
• Floodlights: Yes
• Curator: Daljit Singh

• Total matches: 9
• Matches won batting first: 5
• Matches won bowling first: 4
• Average 1st Inns scores: 168
• Average 2nd Inns scores: 152
• Highest total recorded: 211/4 (19.1 Ov) by IND vs SL
• The highest score chased: 211/4 (19.1 Ov) by IND vs SL
• The lowest score defended: 114/8 (20 Ov) by WIW vs INDW

Liam Livingstone, Mohit Ratee, Prabhsimran Singh, Kagiso Rabada, M Shahrukh Khan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Singh, Matthew Short, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Raj Bawa, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Singh, Vidwath Kaverappa.