New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the first game of the double-header on Sunday. The encounter will take place at Sharjah Cricket Stadium at 3:30 PM. The live-action will be broadcasted on Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar.
Royal Challengers Bangalore is currently at the third spot in the points table. They will need to win just one game to qualify for the Playoffs. The Virat Kohli-led team has won 7 matches out of 11. In their previous match against Rajasthan Royals, RCB managed to win by 7 wickets. Batting first, the pink team was restricted to 149 runs which were chased down by RCB in the 18th over.
On the contrary, Punjab Kings is residing at the 5th position on the score table. They have managed to win 5 games out of 12. Their last win was against Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR was stacked at 165 runs while batting first. Punjab Kings chased the total in the last over with 5 wickets in hand.
The two teams played 27 matches against each other in the history of IPL. Punjab Kings won 15 matches while Royal Challengers Bangalore won 12. In their last match which was held in Ahmadabad, Punjab Kings won by 34 runs.
IPL 2021: RCB v/s PBKS, Match 48
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Match Date & Time: October 3 at 3:30 PM (IST) and at 2:00 PM (Local Time)
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
Pitch Report:
As per the last match played at the stadium, the surface appeared to be contrasting for both the departments. The seamers seem to get an advantage while the batsmen are finding it difficult with the bat in the second half. An average score of 140 runs will come in handy.
Probable Playing XIs for RCB v/s PBKS
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Kona Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson/George Garton, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Punjab Kings:
Lokesh Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen/Moises Henriques, Nathan Ellis, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Top Picks for RCB v/s PBKS Dream11 Match:
Top Picks – Batsman
Devdutt Padikkal: A left-handed opening batsman from Royal Challengers Bangalore. So far, he has amazed his fans with some amazing shots. He was given the title of Emerging Player of the Tournament in the last year’s IPL. In this season, he has mastered 309 runs from 11 matches at an average of 34.33.
Mayank Agarwal: A right-handed opening batsman from Punjab Kings. He gave a commendable performance against Kolkata Knight Riders where he scored 40 runs. So far, he has secured 372 runs out of 10 matches at an average of 41.33.
Top Picks – All-Rounder
Glenn Maxwell: A right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler from Royal Challengers Bangalore. Recently, he has been too good with his bat and ball. He is the leading run-scorer from RCB with 350 runs in 10 matches. He as well managed to pick 3 wickets.
Top Picks – Bowlers
Harshal Patel: One of the leading wicket-taker in this season. He has smashed several batsmen on the opposite side especially in the death overs. He has scalped 26 wickets in 11 matches, with the best figures of 5/27.
Arshdeep Singh: Leading wicket-taker in the Punjab Kings team. He has picked 16 wickets from 10 matches at an economy of 7.71.
Top Picks – Wicketkeepers
Lokesh Rahul: An outstanding batsman and a flexible wicketkeeper. He won the title of player of the match against KKR. He secured 67 runs out of 55 deliveries.
Kona Srikar Bharat: Exception performance has been seen from him in previous matches. He is well to be behind the stumps. In 3 matches, he scored 92 runs with 44 as the highest score.
