April 26, 2025: As Punjab Kings (PBKS) prepare to face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their IPL 2025 clash at Eden Gardens, all eyes are on the team’s contrasting performance in the powerplay phase—blistering with the bat, but underwhelming with the ball.
PBKS currently sit in fifth place on the points table with five wins in eight matches, while defending champions KKR are struggling in seventh with just three victories. For PBKS, the key has been their explosive starts with the bat.
The top order trio of Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, and skipper Shreyas Iyer has been instrumental in giving PBKS aggressive starts. Priyansh leads with 254 runs at a strike rate of 201.58, while Prabhsimran and Iyer have struck at 168.54 and 185.21 respectively. With a powerplay run rate of 10.67—the best among all IPL teams—PBKS have consistently dominated the opening six overs with the bat.
However, the same cannot be said for their bowling performance during that phase. PBKS have managed to take just 10 wickets in the powerplay across eight games—the joint-lowest along with Rajasthan Royals. In addition to that, they’ve leaked 430 runs from 276 deliveries at an economy rate of 9.34, placing them sixth-worst in terms of powerplay bowling efficiency.
Balancing their aggressive batting with improved bowling will be the key for PBKS as they face a KKR side hungry for a turnaround.