Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Betting Tips 26/04/2021

16:29, 25 Apr 2021

Senior Author

16:29, 25 Apr 2021

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.

The 21st fixture of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season sees Punjab Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders on April 26 (Monday) at Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. The match is scheduled to start at 7:30pm IST.

Teams Status

Punjab Kings head into this fixture on the back of pulling a major upset. The lease successful of all the IPL franchises, the Kings thrashed two-time defending champions Mumbai Indians by nine wickets on Friday night.

The architects of their upset win were their bowlers, almost all of whom chipped in, never allowing Mumbai easy runs and restricting them to just 131-6 – a total Punjab batsmen surpassed with ease. All three of their top-order batsmen chipped in, with the biggest contribution being an unbeaten 60 from their captain KL Rahul.

The victory ended a three-game slide for Punjab and restored some of their confidence that had been shot by their own nine-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the game before.

Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, are the most out-of-form team in IPL 2021 right now, although form changes in an instance in tournaments such as these. The Shahrukh Khan-owned franchise started their campaign with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad but have since lost four straight matches, and currently dwell at the bottom of the points table.

Three of those four wins can be ignored, considering that they were against the likes of Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings – all heavy hitters. However, the last one against Rajasthan Royals was a painful pill to swallow – not just because of it being against the lowly Rajasthan but also due to its one-sided nature (nine-wicket defeat).

It has been a combination of both bowling and batting failures that is responsible for KKR being in this mess. At times, the bowlers give up scores in excess of 200, which the batsmen struggle to chase, and on other occasions, the batsmen fold for such low scores that the bowlers have very little to work with.

What Do the Sportsbooks Say?

Brand	Home team name	Away team name
	1.80	2.0
	1.805	2.005
	1.72	2.08

Kings XI Punjab are the favourites in this fixture. 22Bet has them at 1.805, Bet365 at 1.80 and LeoVegas at 1.72. Meanwhile, the KKR are priced at 2.005 on 22Bet, 2.0 on Bet365 and 2.08 on LeoVegas.

Tipster’s Angel

Tip: Punjab Kings to win @ 1.805

Kolkata have dominated this particular matchup over their last five games, winning four and losing just once. On that trend alone, you’d want to pick KKR. However, keeping in mind KKR’s current form and the fact that they look a bit light in the top order while Punjab are stack, some parity in the head-to-head record could be seen soon.

Tip: Chris Gayle to score 50 runs @ 3.74

He took his time but it appears as if Chris Gayle, arguably the greatest T20 cricketer of all time, is all warmed up and ready to be the demolition man we know he can be. His unbeaten 43 of 34 against Mumbai on Friday was a bit on the slower side but he got some much-needed time out in the middle. Don’t be surprised if he serves up a Gayle special this Monday night.

Conclusion

There is little to choose between these two sides. Both have their deficiencies. That said, Punjab have two star batsmen in KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, especially the latter of whom can decide any given match by himself. PBKS have a slight edge here.