The caravan of IPL 2023 has completed about one third of its league phase. And the race to the playoffs is heating up as well. Two teams- RCB & PBKS- with mixed results so far will face off at Mohali in Match 27, in quest to gain two points. Here is the preview of this match.
Team Preview-
Royal Challengers Bangalore-
After playing 3 home matches on the trot, it is time for an away game for RCB before returning home for a couple of games lined up against RR and KKR. RCB will be gutted to concede 2 of their last 3 home games, more due to their tight grip on the matches at one stage. While LSG chased a big target against RCB, the latter were going smoothly to chase a record total against CSK, eventually losing by 8 runs.
Looking at team totals by RCB, they are looking like a great batting unit, but that has not been the case, as about 73% of total team runs have been scored by three- Du Plessis, Virat Kohli & Glenn Maxwell. Their line up may show it like they have batting till number 9 (till 10 if Impact player is a batsman), but that batting depth has not looked real so far.
Lack of much required fire in lower middle order may push RCB to bring back Michael Bracewell for Wayne Parnell who has been quite expensive for his 5 wickets in 3 games.
Bowling, too, has failed to perform as a unit. Except for Mohammad Siraj, who has been outstanding so far, every bowler has gone for plenty. Likes of Harshal Patel has disappointed big time, as the experienced pro has conceded runs in excess of 10 per over. Hasaranga’s return has not brought any significant fruition. The Sri Lankan leggie has been taken for big runs and hasn’t even bowled his quota of overs in two matches so far.
Josh Hazlewood’s return is looking around the corner. In case he is available for this match, his pairing with Siraj can be a big boost to RCB’s bowling woes.
RCB will hope for some good luck as well, as two of their three losses so far have been pretty close where the match could go either way.
Punjab Kings-
Beleaguered with injury concerns, Punjab Kings have done very well so far. Though all of their victories this season have been close ones, any margin of victory gives 2 points only. And Punjab Kings have stood firmly at number 5 with 6 points.
Johnny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone have been missed dearly, with Dhawan’s injury making things more misery for Kings. The Kings’ skipper is likely to miss this match as well, though Liam Livingstone will be available for selection against RCB.
Shahrukh Khan’s batting in last two games, where he has struck 45 runs off 19 balls with one not out, is the biggest positive for Kings on batting front. Matthew Short has looked in good nick, and he will be earnest to produce a big knock. Sikandar Raza and Jitesh Sharma have been good in patches, so is Prabhsimran Singh.
Their bowling unit led by Arshdeep Singh has performed well so far. Sam Curran has been good mostly but he needs to pick more wickets. Rabada was good in the previous match and if he can find his feets, the trio of Arshdeep, Curran, and Rabada can be challenging for any batting unit around.
Probable XIII-
Royal Challengers Bangalore-
Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror/Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Vijay Kumar Vyshak, Mohammad Siraj (Impact subs- Karn Sharma, Suyash Prabhudesai)
Punjab Kings-
Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short/Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sikandar Raza, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran (C), Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar (Impact subs- Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar)
Interesting facts and milestones-
- Virat Kohli needs two fours to become third batsmen in IPL history to hit 600 fours. Shikhar Dhawan (730) and David Warner (608) are ahead of Kohli.
- Kohli needs 156 runs to become the first batsman to score 7000 IPL runs. Virat Kohli holds the record of most runs in IPL history.
- Glenn Maxwell is just short of 5 runs to complete 2500 IPL runs.
- Arshdeep Singh is just two wickets short of completing 50 IPL wickets.
- In the last 6 meetings between the two teams, Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) have been victorious 5 times.
Pitch and weather report-
The pitch at Mohali is known for good contests between bat and ball. As it is a day game, spinners may be game-changers in the second innings of the match, so the team winning the toss may opt to bat first. The temperature will travel between 24 to 29 degree celsius during the match time. It can be a rain curtailed game as there are 40% chances of rain.
Venue- Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Date and Time- 20 April 2023, 3:30 PM Onwards
Live Streaming- Star Sports Network and Jio Cinema
Dream XI Team-
