KKR vs PBKS Highlights, IPL 2025: Kolkata, Punjab share spoils as match called off due to rain

Okay, so we do have an update. The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings match has been called off as rain persists in Kolkata. 

The update is, it hasn't stopped raining, says Matthew Hayden on comms. Ah, things are looking bleak for a live-action at the moment. 

Gusty winds with red alert for lightning, not very good signs.

(Credit: AccuWeather)

Okay, so the cut-off time for a 5-over match is 11:44 PM, basically, we have one more hour. Stay tuned are we provide you all with live updates. 

We are past 10:30 PM IST now, which means we will slowly start losing overs now. The live visual show heavy rain at the moment in Kolkata. 

The Indian Premier League game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata has been halted because of heavy rain and strong gusts of wind at Kolkata that former cricketer Matthew Hayden termed as ‘absolute chaos’. Hosts Kolkata were set a target of 202 runs in the game and were 7/0 after one over when the game was halted.

Former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden, who is in Kolkata for the host broadcaster JioHotstar, pointed behind him on the live broadcast and called the situation, “absolute chaos”. The Eden Gardens ground has been completely covered with white covers, but some covers were blown off due to excessive winds.....READ MORE

30 more minutes until we start losing overs in this game. The covers are still on. 

(Credit: Indian Premier League)

The live visuals show gusty winds disturbing the covers at Eden. By the looks of it, it seems we are in for a long wait here. 

Timber Strike! |/ ?

Varun Chakaravarthy shows his class with a ? delivery to dismiss Glenn Maxwell ?

Updates ? https://t.co/oVAArAaDRX #TATAIPL | #KKRvPBKS | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/WEigiJQQyL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 26, 2025

So, the rain gods are here. The covers are coming in as it's raining in Kolkata. Could be just passing shower but the chase has been interrupted. 

KKR openers Sunil Narine and Rahmanullah Gurbaz open in the chase of 202. Marco Jansen has the new ball. He started with a wide ball outside off-stump. Gurbaz with a single and Narine with a boundary got off the mark in the first over. 7 off first over. 

Andre Russell bowled the last over and did a really good job to give just eight off it. Shreyas Iyer and Inglis managed four singles off the first four balls before Inglis scraped one off for a boundary. A full toss was missed by Inglis, and PBKS failed to capitalise in the last over. 201 for four on the board. 

Wickets keep tumbling for Punjab and Kolkata have done really well to keep PBKS batters under control. Jansen falls for 3 off 7. Vaibhav gets his second scalp. PBKS are stumbling here. New batter Josh Inglis got off the mark with a boundary. Shreyas Iyer ended the 19th over with a boundary too. 

Marco Jansen c Venkatesh Iyer b Vaibhav Arora 3(7)

Maxwell's poor run, meanwhile, continues. He falls for 7 off 8 deliveries. Cleaned up by Varun Chakaravarthy. He hit Varun for a four in the previous delivery but Varun beats him to find the stumps. Marco Jansen is the new batter in. Punjab need a few more big overs if they need to reach 220 or more.  

Glenn Maxwell b Varun 7 (8)

Ah, I guess I've jinxed Prabhsimran's chanceless innings here. Vaibhav Arora gets big wicket. Prabhsimran would feel unlucky not to deposit a low full toss outside off stump, in the stands as he holed out to Roman Powell at long-off. Top innings from Prabh comes to an end as he departs after scoring 83 off 49. Glenn Maxwell joined skipper Iyer. Punjab 161 after 15 overs. 

Prabhsimran Singh c Powell b Arora 83 (49)   

Prabhsimran is batting on fifth gear now. He is looking to hit every ball over the park now. The run rate which was hovering around nine-nine and a half, has jumped to 11.5 now. Punjab past 150 in the 14th over as Varun, KKR's most economical bowler until now, leaked 19 from his third over where Prabhsimran hit three fours and one six.  

Skipper Shreyas Iyer joined Prabhsimran Singh in the middle. Prabhsimran did not let the tempo go away and hit Sakariya for three consecutive boundaries, which also included one sx and reached his well-deserved fifty. 

How to stop Priyansh Arya? KKR bowlers have no answer to this question at this moment. He slammed Andre Russell over deep covers for an 89m six. Wow. How to stop Priyansh, it seems Russell knows how to put a stop. He forces a miscue from Priyansh, who falls after scoring 69 off 35. 

Priyansh Arya c Arora b Russell 69 (35)

While Prabh is playing a second fiddle to Priyansh, he does not want to fall behind. An audacious switch hit, executed to perfection against Narine, fetched him half a dozen runs.  The hit also took Punjab past 100 in the 11th over. Anything less than 220 for PBKS from here would be an upset. 112 after 11 overs. 

After a few quiet overs, Priyansh is back in his element. He brought back normal proceedings with a string of boundaries. A four, six and a four in three consecutive balls off Harshit Rana take him to another fifty! What a talent. He helps Punjab take 16 off Harshit's over before starting Sunil Narine's following over with another maximum. He moves to 60 and Punjab is starting at 100 now.  

Narine continued from his end and bowled a phenomenal over, giving just three singles from his second over. The over also saw a terrific diving effort from Sakariya, who put his body on the line, attempting to take Priyansh Arya's diving catch, but he remained out of reach. Nonetheless, top top effort from the pacer for making such a full-length forward dive.  

Chakaravarthy's 2-run over, followed by Narine's 4-run over, have suddenly pulled some momentum back to the KKR camp. They need to build on from these overs to induce some mistakes from the young duo. As I update, Priyansh Arya swats Chakaravarthy over deep mid-wicket for a gigantic six. His first maximum of the night. Punjab crossed the 70-mark in 8 overs. They are looking at a big total here.  

KKR bowlers are bleeding runs and to stop that, skipper Ajinkya Rahane brought in Varun Chakaravarthy. He started with an impressive over, beating Prabhsimran on two occasions to give just two from his first over. Sunil Narine came from the other end. Crucial phase of play for both teams here. 

It took just three deliveries in the fifth over, Harshit Rana's first of the night, for Punjab to get over 50. Prabhsimran, who got off to a rather slow start, moved to 23 off 16 with a four and six off the first three deliveries of the over. Pressure on Harshit. 

While Priyansh got one four off Sakariya on mid-on, Prabhsimran, too, joined the party soon, lofting the back of the length ball over long-on for a SIX, this first boundary of the night. Priyansh moved to 28 off 11 with his sixth four. He ended the over with one more boundary and these are dangerous signs for KKR early on. Punjab already racing to 50. 43 after 4 overs.  

Vaibhav Arora continued from one end. Priyansh punished a loosener from Arora, who bowled a juicy full toss from around the wicket, all Priyansh had to do was just to guide it on off-side. He ended the over with another boundary, clearing the infield with ease -- over extra cover. Another expensive over from Vaibhav which gave PBKS 12 from it. Priyansh Arya continued his charge against Sakariya in the following over as well. 

Chetan Sakariya was brought into the attack from the other end. He gets some movement off the air to cramp Prabhsimran right from the get-go. Good start from the left-arm pacer as he ended up giving just three singles from his first over. 

Vaibhav Arora started from over the wicket and Priyansh Arya got off the mark with a stylish drive along the ground, piercing the fielder at cover for a boundary. Prabhsimran opened his account with a single before Priyansh drilled another drive, another over covers.You can just watch this boy all day. Punjab off to a good start, 10 off the first over.   

Out walk the Punjab opening duo, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh. Vaibhav Arora has the new ball. 

• Kolkata Knight Riders: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anrich Nortje, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy
• Punjab Kings: Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey

? Toss ? @PunjabKingsIPL elected to bat against @KKRiders

Updates ?? https://t.co/oVAArAaDRX #TATAIPL | #KKRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/ccqbIBBKSZ

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 26, 2025

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Shreyas Iyer: We are batting first. Since we are playing on the same wicket they played on. Can see a few cracks, will get an idea on how its playing. It's always been great to play in front of this crowd. Another day to come here and embrace. We have been getting brilliant starts. We are talking about a few situations, need to play to our best ability and believe in ourselves. I want the bowlers to take wickets, it changes the momentum. The more wickets we take in the powerplay, gives a chance to the other bowlers. Maxwell and Omarzai come in.

Ajinkya Rahane: It's all about playing good cricket, need to chase down whatever the target is. Our bowlers have been bowling really well. They have improved a lot. The boys have disappointed with the bat, but need to be brave in this format. Our batting unit needs to do well in this game. We have been playing good cricket in patches. It's all about living in the moment and be positive. Powell comes in Moeen and Sakariya comes in for Ramandeep.

Shreyas Iyer gets the right call, he decided that Punjab well bat first after winning the toss against Kolkata. 

Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane walk out for the coin flip. 

• Lost to RCB by 7 wickets
• Beat RR by 8 wickets
• Lost to MI by 8 wickets
• Beat SRH by 80 runs
• Lost to LSG by 4 runs
• Beat CSK by 8 wickets
• Lost to PBKS 16 runs
• Lost to GT by 39 runs

• Beat GT by 11 runs
• Beat LSG by 8 wickets
• Lost to RR by 50 runs
• Beat CSK by 18 runs
• Lost to SRH by 8 wickets
• Beat KKR by 16 runs
• Beat RCB by 5 wickets
• Lost to RCB by 7 wickets

• Matches played: 92
• Won: 53
• Lost: 39
• Highest Score: Punjab Kings 262/2 vs KKR (April 2024)
• Lowest Score: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 49 all out vs KKR (April 2017)

The weather is unlikely to provide any joy to the City of Joy on Saturday with the temperatures set to soar to as high as 37 degrees in the morning and afternoon. But by the time the match starts, it is expected to come down to 30 with Accuweather describing the conditions to be clear and breezy.

The pitch at Eden Gardens will be in focus yet again with KKR publicly wanting surfaces that suit their slower bowlers. The last time they played here vs Gujarat Titans, the pitch behaved differently in two innings. The KKR spinners struggled to get much purchase off the surface in the first innings but the GT spinners led by Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan wreaked havoc in the second innings. If the pitch is on the slower side again on Saturday, expect Yuzvendra Chahal to make merry.

PBKS predicted XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar/Vyshak Vijaykumar

• Impact sub: Harpreet Brar/Vyshak Vijaykumar

KKR predicted XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Moeen Ali/Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana

• Impact sub: Vaibhav Arora

• Matches played: 13
• KKR won: 9
• PBKS won: 4
• Last result: PBKS won by 8 wickets (April 2024)

• Matches played: 34
• KKR won: 21
• PBKS won: 13
• Last result: PBKS won by 16 runs (April 2025)

Rinku Singh recently opened up on his role as a finisher for his team, the Kolkata Knight Riders. 

"I usually bat at No. 5 or 6 — I’ve done that for Uttar Pradesh (in domestic cricket) and in the IPL, so I’m used to it. I focus a lot on fitness because with 14 matches in the IPL, it’s my responsibility to maintain my body and recover well. I also speak to Mahi bhai often — he tells me to stay calm and play according to the match situation. Things fall into place when you stay composed," Rinku said. 

Rinku also opened up on how he continues to evolve as a batter by learning from seniors like Andre Russell.

"I’ve been learning since I started playing in the IPL. I observe Russell closely, especially how he bats in the final overs, and how he uses his body to generate power. I keep watching and picking up things from him," he added.

… KKR’s Rinku Singh certainly believes so. Recently, while talking to JioHotstar, the finisher said this was the season where a team could breach 300 runs with the bat. 

He cited past successful chases as proof of how the game has evolved: “Yes, we can do it. IPL has reached a stage where even 300 is possible; last year, Punjab chased a total of 262 runs. All teams are strong this season—anyone can get to 300,” Rinku Singh said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad came within a whisker of this prophecy coming true earlier this season when they smashed 286/6 against the Rajasthan Royals at Hyderabad in a game that had seen Ishan Kishan blast a 47-ball 106 not out. 

KKR themselves have managed a top team total of 234/7 in the game against Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens. Besides this score, which ranks in at no 7 in the list of top team totals in IPL 2025, Kolkata have no scores in the top 20 in IPL list of team totals this season. In eight games in IPL 2025, they have breached the 200-run team total just twice. 

Venkatesh Iyer is a player that the Kolkata Knight Riders have high hopes from. But this season, he has been lacklustre with the bat, scoring 135 runs in the eight innings he has had the chance to pad up. Almost half of those 135 runs came from a single knock of 60. 

For KKR, Iyer needs to come good. They bet big on him more than once. In fact, they had retained him ahead of Shubman Gill before IPL 2022. While the KKR team needed a savior against the Gujarat Titans in their previous IPL game, Iyer could only manage a scratchy and laborious 14 runs off 19 balls. 

What will make the challenge harder today is the fact that he will have to face Marco Jansen, who has dismissed Iyer thrice in four innings, while the batter has managed to score just 14 runs at an average of 4.67.

After the Kolkata Knight Riders slumped to another defeat — their fifth in eight games — this time to the Gujarat Titans in their last IPL 2025 game, Kolkata mentor Dwayne Bravo suggested that plenty of their batters had “lost confidence”. Coming into the clash with PBKS, the defending champions are in a race to resurrect their IPL 2025 campaign.  

"I don't think we actually had the team batting properly. So that is the reality," Bravo told Cricbuzz. "(Andre) Russell is not the only one who is struggling at the moment. IPL is a tough tournament. And when you don't start well, batsmen go into a period where they lose confidence. And that's what's happening at the moment. We just have to keep backing them and hopefully they come good."

Eye on Eden Gardens pitch

The 22-yard strip at the Eden Gardens has been under plenty of scrutiny since the start of IPL 2025 especially after comments from the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) that suggested that the team and the pitch curator were not on the same page. KKR think tank has reportedly asked for spinning tracks that aid their strengths. But the request has reportedly been shot down by the Eden Gardens pitch curator.

After KKR’s 39-run defeat to the Gujarat Titans at home in their previous IPL game — which was their fifth loss in eight games so far, that too on another batting-friendly surface where 190+ runs were scored in the first innings — team mentor Dwayne Bravo clarified that the team’s issues were not borne out of demons that haunted the 22-yard strip, but problems that existed in their batting. 

"Nothing is wrong with the wicket," Bravo was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz after Gujarat Titans beat KKR. "I wouldn't come here to talk about the wicket. I think both teams play on the wicket and, you know, we didn't play a good game of cricket. So definitely if we don't play in the three facets of the game, good, and the other team play better, more likely they will win. So I'm not having anything, nothing is wrong with the wicket."

Both Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders come into this IPL 2025 game with defeats in their last IPL game. Punjab were handed a seven-wicket defeat by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home on Sunday while the next day Kolkata were handed a 39-run defeat by the Gujarat Titans at home. 

Coming into this game, KKR are seventh in the IPL 2025 standings with three wins from eight games. Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, are six points away from the top of the IPL 2025 standings. 

Punjab Kings — who find themselves in fifth spot in the IPL 2025 standings with 10 points after eight games — have not made it to the IPL playoffs since 2014. But under new captain Shreyas Iyer, who comes to Punjab after leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title last season, can the PBKS team defy history? Punjab have, after all, also never won the IPL, despite being around (as the Kings XI Punjab) from the first season of the IPL. 

In the form of KKR, PBKS will confront a team that is seventh in the IPL 2025 standings with three wins from eight games. The Kolkata franchise is six points away from the top of the IPL 2025 standings. 

For both teams in today’s clash, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, their captains have shown the way at least with the bat. This is why Ajinkya Rahane, the man taking over the reins of captaincy at KKR from Shreyas Iyer, is at 12th spot in the Orange Cap race, with 271 runs to his name from 8 games. Shreyas, meanwhile, is one spot below in the standings, with 263 runs from eight innings.