PBKS vs RR LIVE Score, IPL 2023: PBKS 94/4 (12 overs) - Jitesh ...

Kagiso Rabada into the attack. Beaten! Rabada whizzes one past Buttler’s outside-edge. Beaten again. Similar line and Buttler misses it again. Rabada to Buttler, OUT! His fifth duck of the season - the most by a batter in an IPL season! Devdutt Padikkal is in at 3.

Jos Buttler lbw b Rabada 0 (4b)

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler is back for the chase.

Saini drops short and Jitesh hammers the ball over point and Hetmyer fumbles in the deep to concede a FOUR. In the slot and Jitesh slaps the ball over cover for another SIX. Another short ball and Jitesh heaves it over mid-wicket for a FOUR. Saini to Jitesh, OUT! Gone this time. Slower ball from Saini and Jitesh gets a toe-edge out to cover and perishes. Shahrukh Khan is in at 7.

Jitesh Sharma c sub (D Ferreira) b Saini 44 (28b 3x4 3x6)

Saini to Livingstone, OUT! Cleans him up! A rash swipe across the line and Saini hits the top of the middle-stump with a quick delivery off length. Jitesh Sharma is in at 6.

Liam Livingstone b Saini 9 (13b 1x4)

Adam Zampa into the attack. Zampa to Dhawan, OUT! That’s plumb! Dhawan attempts to sweep a fuller delivery and misses it altogether. A massive wicket for the Royals inside the PowerPlay.

Shikhar Dhawan lbw b Zampa 17 (12b 2x4 1x6)

Navdeep Saini replaces Sandeep. Length from Saini and Taide pummels the ball past mid-on for FOUR. FOUR more. Saini strays to the pads and Taida flicks it past backward square. Saini to Taide, OUT. Straight to mid-wicket. A steeping bouncer from Saini and Taide mistimes the pull to mid-wicket. Liam Livingstone is in at 4. Livingstone’s off the mark with a swipe through mid-wicket for FOUR.

Atharva Taide c Padikkal b Saini 19 (12b 3x4 1x6)

Rajasthan Royals XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

RR Impact Subs: Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Akash Vasisht, Kuldeep Sen, Murugan Ashwin.

Punjab Kings XI: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Prabhsimran Singh, Atharva Taide, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh

PBKS Impact Subs: Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Mohit Rathee, Matthew Short.

TOSS: Rajasthan wins toss, opts to bowl

Shikhar Dhawan: Last match, dew wasn’t much. First batting or second, it shouldn’t change much. We will come and enjoy the game. Will try to give our best shot. We need to take more wickets in the first 6 overs. We can cash in more. We are playing the same team.

Sanju Samson: We will bowl. Looking at the dimensions and looking as to what we require in the tournament, it is better to bowl. We need to win the game. Then see how the other games go. If you want to play good T20 cricket, you need to forget things. We have had four to five days off. One has to understand the conditions. We have couple of changes. Last minute changes. Ashwin misses out because of a back spasm.

RR (highest score) vs PBKS: 226/6 (20) - Rajasthan Royals won by four wickets (Sharjah; 2020)

RR (lowest score) vs PBKS: 112/7 (20) - Rajasthan Royals lost by 27 runs (Cape Town; 2009)

PBKS (highest score) vs RR: 223/2 (20) - Punjab Kings lost by four wickets (Sharjah; 2020)

PBKS (lowest score) vs RR: 124 (18.5) - Punjab Kings lost by six wickets (Jaipur; April 2013)

RR (highest individual score) vs PBKS: Sanju Samson 119 (63) (Wankhede; 2021)

RR (best bowling figures) vs PBKS: Kevon Cooper 4/26 (4) (Jaipur; 2012)

PBKS (highest individual score) vs RR: Shaun Marsh 115 (69) (Mohali; 2008)

PBKS (best bowling figures) vs RR: Arshdeep Singh 5/32 (4) (Dubai; 2021)

Matches played: 25

Rajasthan Royals won: 14

Punjab Kings won: 11

Last result: Punjab Kings won by 5 runs

Punjab Kings Squad: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Atharva Taide, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Sikandar Raza, Matthew Short, Rishi Dhawan, Mohit Rathee, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Baltej Singh, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Gurnoor Brar, Shivam Singh

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Joe Root, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, Sandeep Sharma, KM Asif, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Jason Holder, Murugan Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Akash Vasisht, KC Cariappa, Obed McCoy, Riyan Parag, Devdutt Padikkal, Kuldip Yadav, Kuldeep Sen, Donavon Ferreira, Abdul Basith, Kunal Singh Rathore

Punjab Kings (13 matches, 12 points) - NRR: -0.308

Punjab Kings’ form fizzled out after its positive start under new captain Shikhar Dhawan this season. With 12 points from as many matches, PBKS shares similar concerns with RCB. With two games in hand, the Kings can target 16 points as their remaining games are slotted with teams who are on same points or below it on the points table.

If Punjab manages to earn wins over RR and DC, it will be in contention for a Playoffs spot alongside CSK, LSG, MI and RCB. Punjab will also want to boost its NRR in its remaining matches. It currently bears the lowest NRR among all teams in contention.

With a 15-run defeat to Delhi Capitals, PBKS finds itself in dire straits and will need to beat RR to finish at best with 14 points. In such a scenario, PBKS will also need RCB to not win more than one of its next two games while MI loses its last fixture to SRH.

Rajasthan Royals (13 matches, 12 points) - NRR: +0.140

Sanju Samson’s side suffered a crushing 112-run loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore last week and RR’s chances of qualifying has dwindled to a faint possibility. The Royals had won five of their first six matches before botching the remaining seven where they only won one match.

While it undoubtedly needs a win over Punjab in its final game, RR also requires a host of results to go in its favour to qualify. It would require RCB and MI to not win in their respective last matches. While CSK remains out of reach, RR will also require one of MI or LSG to lose both of their remaining fixtures to pull off a miracle.

While fate is no longer in their hands, Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will push for a win in a bid to marginally stay alive in the race for the IPL (Indian Premier League) playoffs when they face off at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.

Tied on 12 points with one league match to play, PBKS and RR’s horizons have conspicuously converged.

Both teams lost steam in the latter half of the tournament, losing two of their last six matches, after making promising starts to their respective campaigns.

PBKS conceded five 200-plus totals in its last seven games while RR has failed to defend two totals in excess of 200 of late.

Given that more than 400 runs were aggregated at the venue in Kings’ 15-run defeat to Capitals two nights ago and that both teams have a penchant for big totals, the side batting first will refrain from complacency. PBKS’ thrilling five-run win while defending 197 against RR earlier in the tournament is now a distant memory.

However, fresh in RR’s conscience will be its humiliating capitulation against Royal Challengers Bangalore when it was bundled out for 59 – the season’s lowest score and the third lowest in the tournament’s history.

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Its openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler failed to open their account in that game but will have their tails up against PBKS’ bowling, which has been toothless in the PowerPlay, conceding 9.20 runs an over while averaging more than 50 runs per wicket.

Jaiswal, in the midst of a breakthrough tournament, shook off the demons of his two-ball duck against RCB with an hour-long net session on the eve of the match.

He polished his pull shots against the sidearm thrower on a wicket with appreciable bounce while Ravichandran Ashwin too had an extended session with the bat, striking a flurry of big hits down the ground.

Kings’ shaky top order will be wary of Trent Boult, who has picked nine of Royals’ 15 wickets in the PowerPlay and should return to the side on a pacer-friendly wicket. How Punjab’s hard-hitting middle-order, and Liam Livingstone in particular, shapes up against spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Ashwin will interesting to see.

PBKS’ spinners Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar are the only bowlers from their team with an economy rate of under 8.50 this season and will be key in tying up RR’s wobbly middle-order, which has notably struggled against the tweakers. RR skipper Sanju Samson has blown hot and cold but his strike rate of 170.31 against spin can negate the spin threat.

Plundering and leaking runs at the death have been tropes for both teams lately and this is where their fates could decisively converge.

- Dhruva Prasad