IPL 2021: PBKS vs RCB– The 26th match of IPL 2021 will see the much struggling Punjab Kings take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday. The game starts at 7:30 in the evening at the Narendra Modi Stadium. No fans will be allowed inside the stadium due to increasing Covid-19 cases in India. The government’s restrictions include players staying in bio-secure bubbles and fans staying back at home. All of this has been done to curb down the spread of the deadly virus.
The lovers of the game can watch the match from their television sets, and mobile phones and extend their bit of necessary support.
PBKS vs RCB – Match Preview
The Motera Stadium, renamed to Narendra Modi Stadium recently has been a tough pitch to bat first on. However, the pitch remains a batsman’s paradise but the lengthy boundary lengths pose the real danger. The team winning the toss will look ahead to bowl first and restrict their opponent from scoring a mammoth target. The pacers will be heavily vital due to the extra bit of bounce the pitch brings with it. Royal Challengers Bangalore, whose bowling side has recently been a powerhouse can pose a real danger to Punjab.
Delhi Capitals climb the table and sit breathing down the neck of Chennai Super Kings with their points at par. Chennai, however, leads due to their higher strike rate, followed by RCB and Mumbai in the third and fourth positions.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Team News
Royal Challengers Bangalore came back to winning ways after a woeful defeat against the yellow army. Virat Kohli and his men were able to escape a defeat by a whisker. The Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant failed to grab a win despite Shimron Hetmyer’s brilliant inning.
Royal Challengers Bangalore were invited to bat first and stepped up their game to 171 runs in 20 overs which was quite a challenging target for Delhi. The massive boundary lengths of the Narendra Modi Stadium make it quite difficult for teams to bat first and score a defendable total IPL-wise.
After the regular opening order of RCB failed to perform, AB de Villiers took to the field and drummed up the team total, scoring 75 of 42 balls. 5 sixes and 3 boundaries made him look invincible.
Although Delhi got away by just 1 run in the last over, it was Siraj’s repeated yorkers that made it difficult for Pant to send the ball across the rope.
Bangalore’s winning mentality and strategies have made themselves quite a team this season.
Predicted Eleven– Virat Kohli (C), Kyle Jamieson, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammad Siraj, AB de Villiers (WK), Daniel Christian, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Navdeep Saini Glenn Maxwell,
Punjab Kings Team News
Punjab was once again kept silent by a bowling masterclass from Kolkata Knight Riders. Shivam Mavi, Chakravarthy, and Russell were able to contain the entire top order of Punjab and rendered them powerless, making it look like a cakewalk. This is not the first time Punjab has faltered against big teams. The dismissal of KL Rahul has always left the upcoming batsmen less confident and has led to low-scoring totals. A continued poor run of games has been the scenario where KL Rahul has failed to perform. Chris Gayle and Nicolas Pooran once again put up an awful show against Kolkata Knight Riders.
The massive boundary length of Motera Stadium has been a tough nut to crack for most of the teams who have played here. Punjab was no different. However Chris Jordan’s inning in the death overs proved to be something different, it did not create a difference for Punjab.
Punjab’s odds of winning the match are questionable as they face Virat Kohli’s men, who have been as destructive as they can be in this years’ IPL.
Predicted Eleven– Shahrukh Khan, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Moises Henriques, KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran,
PBKS vs RCB – Key Stats
Punjab Kings take a lead of two matches with 14 wins going head to head against Bangalore. RCB who are not far behind will try to close the gap in this match. KL Rahul led his team to win both the fixtures in IPL 2020 season. Rahul’s 132* and 61* in both the matches saw Punjab take away all the four points RCB could have had. The South African hitman, AB de Villiers is the highest run-getter in this fixture with 692 runs to his name against Punjab.
And on the other side, Yuzvendra Chahal has had 21 dismissals against Punjab Kings.
Conclusion
A tough fight between these two sides will pan out with an air of uncertainty around it. The boundary length of Motera will be a bigger opponent to face for each of the batting sides.
