Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings – IPL Betting Tips

Kolkata Knight Riders will face Punjab Kings in match 45 of the 2021 Indian Premier League in Dubai on Friday. 

The match will be an extremely important one for both teams if they want to stay alive in the race to secure a spot in the playoffs. 

As things stand, the KKR have 10 points after 11 matches whereas the Kings are just two behind with eight points after the same number of games played. 

Both managements will be hoping to see the players put their hands up and made themselves count when it will matter the most. 

In the match between the teams earlier in the competition, it was the Knight Riders who came out on top by a five-wicket margin.

Kolkata Knight Riders Form and Team News: 

After registering a close three-wicket win against Delhi Capitals, who are one of the most in-form teams in the competition, the Kolkata Knight Riders will enter Friday’s contest with high confidence. 

However, the team management will be praying for some positive news regarding the fitness of star all-rounder Andre Russell who did not take part in the previous match after feeling something in his hamstring. 

It is not clear whether the West Indies international will be available for the team’s all-important encounter against the Punjab Kings. 

Captain Eoin Morgan’s form will be another reason of concern for the coaching staff. The star batter has only managed to score 15 runs in his last three innings which include a duck in the previous outing. 

In the batting department, the KKR will be relying on the likes of young Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Morgan and wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik to score the bulk of the runs. 

On the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of pacers Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Venkatesh Iyer along with the spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to produce timely breakthroughs.

Punjab Kings Form and Team News: 

After suffering three defeats in the last four matches, Punjab Kings will enter Friday’s contest low on confidence. 

The most concerning aspect for the team management will be the form of the batters who have not delivered what was expected of them at the start of the competition. 

In the batting department, the team will be relying on the likes of captain KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, veteran West Indies top-order batter Chris Gayle, his countryman Nicholas Pooran and South Africa’s Aiden Markram to score the bulk of the runs and give the bowlers something to bowl with. 

On the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of pacers Mohammed Shami, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh along with leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi to dismantle the opposition’s batting lineup.

Odds by Casumo

According to the Casumo sportsbook, Kolkata Knight Riders will be favorites to win the 45th match of the Indian Premier League to be played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. For the 45thh IPL game, Punjab Kings are placed at 2.17 odds, while Kolkata Knight Riders are placed at 1.63 odds.

Check out our IPL Odds here

Our Tipsters Angle

Both teams will play the contest with a lot of pressure knowing that a bad performance might well be the end of their hopes of securing a spot in the next round. 

On paper, Kolkata Knight Riders look a far settled unit compared to their rivals, that is even though star all-rounder Andre Russell might not be available for the match. 

Therefore, the prediction is for the Morgan-led unit to secure a much-needed win and keep their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.

Tip 1-Lockie Ferguson to continue his excellent form for Kolkata

New Zealand pacer has been excellent with the ball in hand for Kolkata Knight Riders in the UAE leg of Indian Premier League. In the previous match, Lockie Ferguson bowled well and finished with figures of 2 for 10 against Delhi Capitals.

With 7 wickets in four innings at an economy rate of 6.71 this season, so we can expect pacer Lockie Ferguson to take one wicket or more against [email protected]

Tip 2- Lokesh Rahul to lead the way with the bat for Punjab

Skipper Lokesh Rahul has been premier performer for Punjab Kings for the past couple of years. In the previous game, Rahul failed to capitalize on his good start and perished after scoring 21 runs against Mumbai Indians.

With 422 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 132.28, Lokesh Rahul is currently franchise’s leading run-scorer for Punjab Kings. So we can expect Lokesh Rahul to score 30 runs or more against [email protected]

Conclusion

Expect Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Punjab Kings by a close margin at Dubai.

  1. Pacer Lockie Ferguson to take one wicket or more against Punjab- Kolkata Knight [email protected]
  2. Lokesh Rahul to score 30 runs or more against Kolkata- Punjab [email protected]

Check out our IPL Odds here

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