🏏IPL 2023: Match 27 - PBKS vs RCB on 20/04/2023 at 3:30 PM IST 🏏 - Page 2

Originally posted by: DiamondLife

is dhawan playing???

Still a doubt…we will find it out soon I guess🤔

Punjab Kings is currently placed at the fifth position on the points table of this season of IPL whereas Royal Challengers Bangalore is currently placed at the eighth spot on the points table. 

Punjab Kings played five matches in this season of the IPL where they won three matches while Royal Challengers Bangalore also played five matches this season where they managed to win three games. 

Punjab Kings played their last game against Lucknow Super Giants and they won that game by 3 wickets. Matthew Short and Sikandar Raza smashed 34 runs and 57 runs respectively for Punjab Kings in that game. 

Teams

Punjab Kings

News: The fitness concerns of Dhawan and Livingstone would be giving the management a headache. The duo are likely to be assessed on the eve of the game and if match-fit, both could walk into the XI straightaway.

Tactics & Match-ups: Kagiso Rabada loves it against RCB. He's picked up 16 wickets in 7 outings against them, including his tournament best of 4/21, and boasts of a miserly economy rate of just 7.21. His record against four of RCB's batting mainstays would be worrisome for the visitors - he's dismissed Kohli and Karthik three times each and du Plessis and Maxwell twice over.

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan (C),Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short/Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh

Royal Challengers Bangalore

News: Coming off a lengthy Achilles tendinitis injury, Josh Hazlewood linked up with the RCB squad two games ago - scheduled in the space of 48 hours - but hasn't been seen bowling at all in the nets. He remains a doubtful starter for this away fixture.

Tactics & Match-ups: It's only a small sample size yet, but Virat Kohli strikes at 171.43 against PBKS' Arshdeep Singh and hasn't lost his wicket to the left-arm pacer in the IPL.

Probable XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj

Average 1st innings score: 

The average first-innings score on this wicket is 160 runs. 

Record of chasing teams: 

The team batting second has great records here. They have maintained a winning percentage of 60 on this ground.

Thank you today

Mithali Raj has not come with her Ghaghara style 

sorry...

today she looks better in simple pant shirt 😳

Did you know?

-Shikhar Dhawan is only 23 runs away from reaching 6500 IPL runs. He's currently got 49 half-centuries in the tournament history.

- Glenn Maxwell is 5 runs away from completing 2500 IPL runs.

Players Stats: 

Player Players Stats 
Faf du Plessis ----259 runs 
Shikhar Dhawan ---233 runs 
Virat Kohli      220 runs 
Glenn Maxwell    176 runs and 1 wicket 

Punjab Kings are sweating over the fitness of their captain Shikhar Dhawan and star allrounder Liam Livingstone as they return for a short trip home, in Mohali, to host plucky Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday (April 20). Ruled out of their thrilling two-wicket win in Lucknow with a shoulder injury, the 37-year-old Dhawan would be pleased with several unlikely heroes putting their hand up against LSG as they snapped their two-match losing streak. 

PBKS may have three wins in five outings thus far, but are still looking to sustain the winning momentum. They kicked off their season with two wins on the trot but then went on to concede the next two. Part of the problem is personnel: While Livingstone is yet to play a game, sidelined yet again by a niggle (sustained during practice ahead of the Lucknow fixture), Kagiso Rabada has only just joined the side for the last two games. To add to that, Dhawan's injury now comes as a fresh blow for a side ailed by batting inconsistency. 

He couldn't make a difference with the bat but Sam Curran led from the front in the bowling department, while the team found a new batting hero in Sikander Raza against LSG. Most pleasing though, would be the runs from the bat of their designated finisher Shahrukh Khan who had been backed despite an ordinary last season. The Tamil Nadu batter provided the finishing touches in his typical style to guide PBKS home at the Ekana Stadium and the team would be hoping this is only the beginning. 

Curran, Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada have led the bowling superbly, making the PBKS attack one to watch out for. On the contrary, RCB's bowling - especially at death - has come in the spotlight once again. Mohammed Siraj has been a standout performer, but RCB has more often than not been guilty of leaking far too many runs at the back end of the innings - the short boundaries of their home ground partially being a part of the reason. 

That said, RCB have perhaps one of the most potent opening pairs in their current and former captain respectively -- Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli -- to be followed by the destructive Glenn Maxwell. On the back of a last-over loss to the Chennai Super Kings, the fact that they almost chased down a record target is a testament to their batting depth. Maxwell and du Plessis kept them in the hunt, and the encouraging signs, even in defeat, was Dinesh Karthik's return to form and the rediscovery of his finishing prowess. Add to that the batting of their impact sub Suyash Prabhudesai, who dragged the game to the penultimate ball in a mammoth 227-run chase, and it's a batting line-up unlike any other. 

Like PBKS, RCB too are seeking consistency in their campaign. They are currently languishing at the eighth spot in the points table, with just two victories in five games, but have been on the wrong side of a couple of results that could have gone either way.

This is the pitch report

'A glorious afternoon in Mohali, there was a bit of rain yesterday night and there could be a bit of weather around today as well. We're playing on pitch number 4, this is a new pitch and the dimensions are pretty even. 70m on both sides and 75m on the straight boundary. Yesterday's rain has meant that the pitch hasn't been watered too much and that means the pitch is slightly dry. But there are plenty of runs on this surface and the spinners could come into the game later on,' reckon Daren Ganga and Rohan Gavaskar, in their pitch report!

What to expect: Chasing has been the preferred choice of captains here in the two-game sample size so far this season, but hasn't always produced the desired results. Weather-wise, there could be some relief from the scorching heat wave of the north with a partly cloudy day forecast for the day fixture.