For Punjab Kings, the IPL 2024 has been yet another season of missed opportunities similar on the lines of the previous editions as the side finds itself at the bottom half of the points tally, and are all but out of contention for a place in the play-offs.

Having lost six games out of eight, Punjab Kings will look to end the season on a high in their remaining six matches, beginning with Friday’s outing against second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

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In their six losses, Punjab Kings have found themselves in contention till the end before ending up on the wrong side of the result, and as such, the Kolkata crowd can expect another juicy contest between the sides.

The lack of form of Punjab’s top order has deeply hurt the franchise this season, and the visitors will be desperately hoping that skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who is nursing a shoulder injury, makes a comeback, after sitting out of their last three matches. In the absence of Dhawan, the top order has been toothless as the likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone have all failed to set the stage on fire.

Punjab has so far banked on sizable contributions from stand-in captain Sam Curran and their unsung heroes Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, and would expect a similar performance from their rising stars in case the top order once again fails.

On the bowling front, Kagiso Rabada and Curran will look to carry on their fine form, while the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel have put in a much-improved performance in their last game.

Meanwhile, the KKR will be playing its fourth consecutive match at home, where it has won two and lost one in the three previous outings. The previous match saw a total of 443 runs where the hosts edged out visiting Royal Challengers Bengaluru by the narrowest of margins – one run.

As such, KKR would once again be hoping for their in-form top order to continue the onslaught and put the opposition under pressure from ball one. Sunil Narine (286), Phil Salt (249), skipper Shreyas Iyer (190) and Andre Russell (155) have all contributed heavily in KKR’s success so far, but the team would be expecting a similar disciplined effort from their bowling unit.

When one talks about KKR’s bowling department, the one name that flashes immediately is their Rs 24.75 crore buy Mitchell Starc, whose underwhelming performance (6 wickets at economy rate of 11.48) is the worst among the specialist bowlers. The Australian quick must be feeling the heat but would be hoping to cash on to the advantage of facing a side with a vulnerable top order.

If Starc manages to rattle PBKS’ fragile top order, it could be a great confidence booster for the seasoned left-arm pacer, and help in building the overall confidence of the bowling unit heading into the business end of the tournament. The KKR pace unit also comprises uncapped India pacers Harshit Rana (ER 9.25, 9 wickets) and Vaibhav Arora (9.57, 7 wickets) and the duo has been more impressive than Starc although they have also got hit at times.

KKR will also be pinning their hopes on the West Indian all-round pair of Narine and Russell, as their bowling has also been instrumental in the team’s success. In the scenario of Starc being taken to the cleaners, it could well boil down to the likes of Narine, Russell, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy to do the damage control in the middle overs.