KKR vs PBKS IPL 2026: Rain threat looms over Eden Gardens clash as Kolkata Knight Riders seek first win

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders are under huge pressure as they prepare to face Punjab Kings in the 12th match of IPL 2026 at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

KKR have lost their first two matches of the season against Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad and are yet to open their account. The home team will be desperately hoping for a win in front of their home crowd to get their campaign back on track.

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On the other hand, Punjab Kings are in excellent form. They have already won both their matches a thrilling victory over Gujarat Titans followed by a strong win against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai. PBKS will be looking to make it three wins in a row and continue their strong start to the season.

Rain likely to spoil the match

However, rain could play spoilsport in this contest. According to the IMD weather bulletin, there is a high chance of rain during the match, which might result in a shortened game or even a complete washout.

KKR also have their next home game against Lucknow Super Giants under a rain forecast, which is adding to their early-season worries.

Last season too, KKR’s home match against PBKS on April 26 was washed out due to rain, with both teams sharing one point each. On that day, Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings had posted 201/4 before rain stopped play when KKR were 7/0.

There has been persistent cloud cover in Kolkata since morning. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of Kalbaishakhi storms with the possibility of hail and thunderstorms from Sunday to Thursday. The weather is expected to turn even more severe on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Practice sessions for both teams were cancelled on Sunday evening after heavy rain, with patches of water still visible on the Eden Gardens outfield.

Cut-off time and possible scenarios

If rain interrupts the match, a minimum of five overs per side will be needed to get a result. The absolute cut-off time to start the match is 10:56 PM IST, with the toss needing to happen by 10:46 PM IST.

If no play is possible by the cut-off time, the match will be abandoned and both teams will share one point each.

Match details:

• When: Monday, April 6, 2026, 7:30 PM IST
• Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
• Where to Watch: Star Sports Network and JioStar

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh (vc), Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sarthak Ranjan, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi, Daksh Kamra, Cameron Green, Sunil Narine, Rachin Ravindra, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Saurabh Dubey, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Navdeep Saini, Prashant Solanki, Umran Malik.

Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Priyansh Arya, Harnoor Singh, Mitchell Owen, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lockie Ferguson, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey, Vishal Nishad, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh.