Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, 45th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Arshdeep strikes early

Allen is given the ball for the first over and starts off with a full delivery on the pads to Iyer, who puts it away for a boundary. Another flighted and slightly wide delivery it put away through cover for a four by Iyer. Gill comes down the track and slaps a Shami delivery through cover for his first four. But Shami has found some shape and bounce and will be hoping to put it to good use. Meanwhile, Arshdeep strikes in his first over to dismiss Gill for a run-a-ball 7, getting an inside edge on to the stumps after the ball nipped in sharply. KKR are 18/1.

Toss and teams

"It might be tricky to bat first," said PBKS skipper KL Rahul who has opted to bowl. Three changes for PBKS - Fabian Allen, Mayank Agarwal and Shahrukh Khan included in the eleven in place of Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh and Harpreet Brar. Tim Seifert, as expected, replaces Lockie Ferguson while Shivam Mavi comes in for Sandeep Warrier.

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy, Shivam Mavi

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Fabian Allen, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh

Debut alert

Tim Seifert has been handed his KKR cap. It's likely that he's replacing Lockie Ferguson who left the field mid-way during the last game. We'll find out soon. Stay tuned for the toss.

Mayank Agarwal set to return

"Yes, all fitness issues are resolved. Just had a stiff neck in the last game, so I had to miss out. We all know Gayle is a big player, big presence but we respect the decision he's taken and back him 100 percent," Mayank told broadcasters before the match.

Pre-match reading:

The opportunities to make amends are slipping away quite swiftly froom PBKS and the KKR challenge won't be an easy one to neutralise especially after the way Eoin Mogan's men slayed Delhi Capitals, writes Akash Sarkar in his preview.

Meanwhile, PBKS won't have the services of Chris Gayle for the remainder of the competition as the veteran batter has left the IPL 2021 bubble after expressing a desire to mentally refresh himself before the T20 World Cup.

Build-up:

KKR are currently fourth on the points table, same 10 points as Mumbai Indians with both teams having played 11 matches each. But Eoin Morgan's side have a positive NRR of 0.36 as compared to MI's -0.45, and they'll look to further strengthen their position with a victory in this game.

Punjab Kings have two losses and a win in the UAE leg so far, and have only eight points from 11 matches. A win in this game will make the playoffs race even more interesting while a loss will set them back more. Can PBKS keep the hopes alive?