RCB and PBKS collide in an all-to-play-for clash at Dharamsala

With three wins on the bounce, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be eyeing another solid performance when they take on the Punjab Kings at Dharamsala later tonight. Both the sides have had their fair shares of ups and downs and will be vying for it all as the race for the play-offs gets leaner and meaner.

RCB will be brimming with confidence as they were able to carve three wins on the slot, trouncing Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Gujarat Titans twice. An overall development in their bowling sector has yielded handsome results. The batting looks to be in solid touch even though there were a few wrinkles in the last game.

Punjab Kings may have lost their last game against Chennai Super Kings but that came on the back of two consecutive victories which will be raising their hopes as well. With the kind of rewards up for grabs, both sides will be plunging head on into the madness that will be consuming Dharamsala tonight.

Venue Watch

The surface at Dharamsala is a pretty batting friendly one and with the boundaries on the shorter side, expect another crackling run-fest to unfurl ahead of us.  The outfield is usually on the faster side which is simply another alarming reason for the bowlers to be on their toes.

Personal battles to watch out for:

Faf du Plessis vs Arshdeep Singh:

Faf du Plessis has been in terrific touch in the last three games where he got off to absolute flyers while making it big against the Titans in the last game as he blasted 64, snatching the contest away in the Powerplay itself. He is going to be a vital cog in the batting plans of RCB against the upcoming Kings. Arshdeep Singh may have gone for a few runs but the fact that he has claimed 11 wickets is one of the reasons why the RCB skipper will have to watch out for, particularly keeping in mind that he will be the one taking those risks.

Virat Kohli vs Rahul Chahar

With the Orange Cap with him, Virat continues to drive the force for RCB as he has garnered 542 runs so far in this year’s IPL. With four fifties and a century so far, VK will be the leading charge for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru with the bat. Rahul Chahar may have been slightly low in terms of wickets but when it comes to keeping things economical in a season where runs have been easy to come by, he has conceded at just 8.15 runs an over.

Mohammed Siraj vs Jonny Bairstow

Mohammed Siraj had a slow start to the season but he is back to the blooming form where he keeps things extremely tight and even chips in with those crucial scalps. As we are all aware of what Jonny Bairstow is capable of if he gets going, it will all boil down to a handful of specialties that can define the complexion of the game and that is what Siraj does so well.

Match details:

Match: Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Venue: HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

Date: 9th May, 2024

Time: 7:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 32

RCB: 15

PBKS: 17

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru:

Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

Punjab Kings:

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Sam Curran, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Shivam Singh, Chris Woakes, Liam Livingstone, Rilee Rossouw, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Rishi Dhawan, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Ashutosh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh