IPL 2026: Rain plays spoilsport, washes away clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings

Kolkata: The IPL 2026 clash between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) was washed out due to rain on Monday. Both teams had to share one point each. KKR, having suffered defeats in their first two matches, finally opened their account on the points table.

The Punjab team has climbed to the top of the standings with 5 points. When the match was halted due to rain, KKR was struggling at 25 runs for the loss of two wickets after 3.4 overs. Captain Ajinkya Rahane was batting on eight runs, while young wicketkeeper-batsman Angkrish Raghuvanshi was on seven.

What happened during the match?

KKR had won the toss and elected to bat first. KKR was forced to make two changes to their Playing XI. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy did not play due to an injury, while Sunil Narine was unwell. Kolkata gave opportunities to Rovman Powell and Navdeep Saini. This marked Saini's debut match for KKR. Punjab made no changes to their Playing XI. Rahane's brigade had suffered defeats at the hands of the Mumbai Indians in their first match and the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their second. Conversely, the Punjab team, led by Shreyas Iyer, had defeated both the Gujarat Titans and the Chennai Super Kings.

What were the changes to the Playing XIs?

KKR was forced to make two changes to their Playing XI. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy did not play due to an injury, while Sunil Narine was unwell. Kolkata gave opportunities to Rovman Powell and Navdeep Saini. This marked Saini's debut match for KKR. Punjab made no changes to their Playing XI. Rahane's brigade had suffered defeats at the hands of the Mumbai Indians in their first match and the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their second. Conversely, the Punjab team, led by Shreyas Iyer, had defeated both the Gujarat Titans and the Chennai Super Kings.

What were the Playing XIs?

Kolkata Knight Riders: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Wicketkeeper), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.

Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh (Wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Cooper Connolly, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.