Wankhede Stadium pitch report for KKR vs PBKS match 2022: The stadium would host its third match of the ongoing IPL season on Friday.
Advertisement
The eighth match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would feature the previous season finalist Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Both the teams kick-started their tournament run with comprehensive victories under their belt. While KKR beat the previous season champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 6 wickets, the PBKS got the better of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a high-scoring encounter by 5 wickets.
While KKR have already played the opening match of the season at the Wankhede, PBKS would play their first match at this venue.
For those unaware, the stadium would host a total of 20 of the 70 league matches during the ongoing season, with each teams slated to play four matches each at the venue.
Wankhede Stadium pitch report for KKR vs PBKS match 2022
The Red soil pitch at the Wankhede means that the surface would likely be prone to wear and tear as the matches progress at the venue.
However, the initial few matches on the fresh pitches here would have enough carry and bounce for the pacers to exploit. Thus, the KKR vs PBKS encounter is also likely to assist the pacers upfront, where the likes of Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Odean Smith et al would look to provide vital breakthroughs upfront, before the dew makes an appearance.
Having said that, the nature of the pitch would suit the batters in tomorrow’s encounter as well, once they negate the pacer advantage early on in the innings. The average first innings total at this venue before the start of IPL 2022 was 175.
With chasing teams winning 12 of the past 15 night games at this venue, expect the team winning the Toss to have an advantage before the match commences.
Wankhede Stadium capacity and boundary size
The stadium seating capacity of the Wankhede Stadium is 32,000. However, with crowds to the tune of mere 25% seating capacity allowed to witness the initial matches of the IPL league stage, the stadium would take in an approximate 9,800-10,000 spectators during tomorrow’s match between KKR and PBKS.
With relatively smaller boundaries at the venue, the size of the same is less than 70m across dimensions, with the square boundaries’ length likely to vary with each encounter as they would be played across five pitches adjacent to each other.
