KKR vs PBKS Today IPL 2025 Match Prediction: Match 44 Preview, Pitch Report and Who will win Today’s Match?

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, Match 44 Preview

KKR vs PBKS Match Prediction 2025: Both Team’s Recent Form

In the last five games of Kolkata Knight Riders, they have managed to win just two games against SRH and CSK. They lost three games to GT PBKS and Lucknow Super Ginats. Punjab Kings, on the other hand, have won three games out of their last five games. They won the matches against CSK, KKR, and RCB while they lost their last match and match in-between to RCB and SRH respectively.

KKR vs PBKS Head-to-Head Records in IPL

Kolkata Knight Riders have won a total of 21 matches out of 34 matches played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. In IPL 2025, Punjab Kings won the match by 16 runs while in IPL 2024, they won the match by 8 wickets. There is not a single no result and tied match results between KKR and PBKS.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings Team Previews

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders are at the seventh spot in the points table with their poor performances in the last few games. Kolkata Knight Riders are having a mixed season so far with just two wins in eight games. There are many reasons for the failure of Kolkata Knight Riders this season, first of them is the forms of the openers, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt were doing most of the damage in the last season, which helped KKR to win matches easily with depth in the batting lineup. 

The second reason for KKR’s loss is poor decision making by the management in a number of matches. Kolkata Knight Riders lost the last match due to lack of intent and players were looking to just play out 20 overs not trying to win the match. KKR sent Angkrish Raghuvanshi at number seven which was a pure blunder at that point of time. If KKR continues to do these types of things, their chances are less to win matches.

Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings have been brilliant so far in the IPL 2025, winning five matches out of their eight matches. Punjab Kings have defeated teams like Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their journey to this match. Punjab Kings however lost the reverse fixture and their last match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets. 

They started well as always in the last match having asked for batting first. Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh were the only batters to cross the 30 runs mark to take Punjab Kings to 157 runs but Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal had other plans in the second innings. This partnership duo took the game away single handedly from Punjab Kings’ hands. Punjab Kings need to change their batting approach while Shreyas Iyer is needed to play with composure.

KKR vs PBKS, Eden Gardens, Kolkata Pitch Report and Weather Report

The match between KKR and PBKS on Saturday will have clear weather more than moderate temperature in Kolkata. The temperature will range between 32-35°C with clear skies. There is no chance of rain on this ground during the game time. This will be the 100th match of Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The average first innings score of this ground is 168 runs with advantage to the team batting second.

KKR vs PBKS Session Score Based on Scenario

• If Punjab Kings win the toss and choose to bowl first, Kolkata Knight Riders will bat first. In this case, KKR are expected to score around 45-55 runs in the powerplay with good starts from Sunil Narine and Gurbaz and make a total of 185-195 runs. Then, Punjab Kings will chase the score.

• If Kolkata Knight Riders win the toss and bowl first, then Punjab Kings will bat first. They might score 50-60 runs in the powerplay and reach 185-195 runs in total, same as KKR. This time KKR will chase the target and they will win this game.

So, in both situations, the Chasing Team is predicted to win the match.

KKR vs PBKS Match 44, Predicted Playing11

Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI

Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Players: Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy

Injury Update: None

Punjab Kings Predicted Playing XI

Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Players: Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Glenn Maxwell, Praveen Dubey

Injury Updates: None

KKR vs PBKS Match Prediction Key Performers

Top Batter: Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has been one of the best batters this season. He started very well with scores like 97 against Gujarat Titans* and 82 vs SRH. He has scored 263 runs in 8 matches with a strong average of 43.83. He also played well against KKR, scoring 456 runs in 15 matches against them. At Eden Gardens, he has scored 264 runs in 12 matches. He is a calm and stylish player who can hold the innings together.

Top Bowler: Andre Russell

This selection might surprise everyone, but Andre Russell is not just a power hitter, he is also a strong bowler. He has taken 15 wickets in 16 matches vs PBKS, with best figures of 4/20. His bowling average is 23.80, and he takes a wicket almost every 13 balls against Punjab Kings. At Eden Gardens, he is even better, with 43 wickets in 47 matches. The best of Andre Russell in bowling was taken by him at Eden Gardens itself against Punjab Kings. If KKR bowls first you should definitely make him your captain in few of your dream11 teams.

KKR vs PBKS Today Match Prediction

This is an important game for both the teams and holds a lot of importance. Kolkata Knight Riders are at the seventh spot in the points table with just two wins in eight matches. Punjab Kings have shifted to the fifth spot with the wins of Mumbai Indians and RCB in their respective last matches. Punjab Kings will have to win this match to take their third spot back from Mumbai Indians. But everything will depend on the toss as the toss winning team will have the advantage to win the match as well by opting to chase in this match. The chasing team will win this match.