PBKS vs RR: The seventh-placed Punjab Kings take on the Rajasthan Royals, who lost their opening game of the season to the Gujarat Titans.
In the five games they have played so far in the tournament, Rajasthan has recorded four victories and one loss, while Punjab Kings has recorded two wins and three losses. In the previous IPL matches between these two teams, Punjab has won 11 while Rajasthan Royals has won just a small number of them—15, to be exact.
The Royals have performed admirably against the Kings in both setting and chasing totals. 7 victories when batting first and 8 wins while batting second. But Punjab Kings have been strong and aggressive when batting first (8 victories), and not by choosing to bat second. Therefore, RR has a slight advantage against PBKS with the 3-2 recent head-to-head.
PBKS vs RR: Match Details
Match: PBKS vs RR 27th Match (Indian Premier League 2024)
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh
PBKS vs RR: Match Overview
Punjab Kings
The bowlers and batsmen’s mediocre play has condemned Punjab Kings to the bottom half of the standings.
Punjab was behind for the whole of the game against Gujarat Titans, but a masterful rearguard action and brilliant hitting from the lower order, particularly Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Rana, helped Punjab clinch a remarkable triumph. In the next game, the pair came together and produced another incredible win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but lost by a score of two runs. Where winning was completely impossible.
The upper middle order is under tremendous pressure since the top order is unable to provide the team with soaring starts during the powerplay. Dhawan needs to score runs more frequently, as he does tend to fade in the middle overs. To create a foundation for Shashank and Ashutosh to launch from in the last overs, Sikandar Raza and Jitesh Sharma must do well at bat.
The Punjab Kings’ left-heavy bowling assault hasn’t allowed its bowlers to control terms when the ball is in play. Except for Arshdeep and Rabada, bowlers are unable to get inside the striking zone by running through the opposition batting order.
Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals won four games in a row to start the season. Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia pulled off an incredible recovery in the last overs to push Gujarat Titans over the finish line and hand the Royals their first loss of the season, otherwise, it would have been five in a row. Keshav Maharaj replaced Nandre Burger, who was forced to miss the final game, forming a spin three with Ashwin and Chahal.
Maharaj could not create much impact after debuting for the Royals. He was drafted from the Lucknow camp at the last moment. Ashwin was also found not to be in his element when he leaked 40 runs in four overs.
Kuldeep Sen could manage to trouble the GT batters to an extent and ended with a three-wicket haul. The openers, Jaiswal and Buttler couldn’t do their duties well again. That is when Samson and Parag had to step forward and carry the whole team on their backs. Their partnership went on until 130 runs before the third wicket.
PBKS vs RR: Squad
PBKS vs RR: Punjab Kings Squad
Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Rishi Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Shivam Singh, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide, Kagiso Rabada, Prince Choudhary, Chris Woakes, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Harshal Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan
PBKS vs RR: Rajasthan Royals
Sanju Samson (c), Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Jos Buttler, Donovan Ferreira, Avesh Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Riyan Parag, Rovman Powell, Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen, Abid Mushtaq, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj
PBKS vs RR: Playing XI
PBKS vs RR: Punjab Kings Playing XI
Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Sam Curran, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Shashank Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh. Impact Player: Prabhsimran Singh.
PBKS vs RR: Rajasthan Royals Playing XI
Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal. Impact Player: Nandre Burger.
PBKS vs RR: Pitch Report
The pitch at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur is batting-friendly. Therefore, the team that chooses to bat first will prevail in the upcoming match between PBKS and RR. The Stadium at Mullanpur made its debut this season as PBKS’s home ground. It replaced the Mohali Stadium at the beginning of the season.
PBKS vs RR: Weather Report
The weather is predicted to be stable at the Mullanpur Stadium. There is no chance of rain during or before the match. For the most part, the decks here have been solid for batting. This season, 174 batting first and 180 chasing have been the lowest score. Both games have been close until the very last over, so if both sides perform up to par, we should be in for another amazing encounter.
PBKS vs RR: Toss Prediction
In both of the games that took place here, Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to field first. They successfully finished a pursuit against Delhi Capitals and almost missed tying the score. We predict that the team that wins the toss will automatically choose to pursue it.
PBKS vs RR: Pre-play Prediction
Best batter: Sanju Samson (RR), Shikhar Dhawan (PBKS)
Best bowler: Avesh Khan (RR), Kagiso Rabada (PBKS)
Best all-rounder: Ravichandran Ashwin (RR), Sam Curran (PBKS)
Player of the match: Sanju Samson (RR)
PBKS vs RR: Match Prediction
Rajasthan Royals have conceived their first loss against Gujarat Titans in a nervy innings. The match was once sided with the Royals and couldn’t have imagined going the other way. We imagine the Royals to return with full power and win the match over the Punjab Kings. With this victory, we predict the Royals to establish a spot at the top of the table. Follow Exchmarket for more IPL match predictions and other IPL updates.