Overview
Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) start the final round of matches in Dharamsala on Friday, with both needing a convincing victory and a combination of other results to have any chance of making it to the playoffs. Both currently sit on 12 points, two behind Mumbai Indians (MI) in fourth place, with Rajasthan having a better net run rate.
Both Punjab and Rajasthan enter this final game in poor form. Punjab have won only one of their last four matches. Rajasthan’s plight is worse, with four defeats in their last five matches. They have won only won two out of their last eight.
In their recent match against Delhi, Punjab had hopes of securing a victory to stay in contention for the final play-off spot. However, despite Liam Livingstone’s impressive 94 runs off 48 balls, they were unable to chase down the target of 214. They also struggled to take wickets, with Sam Curran’s 2-36 being the only incisive spell.
Shikhar Dhawan, the captain, and Jitesh Sharma, touted by some as a future wicketkeeper-bat for India in white-ball cricket, both scored ducks in that last match. Livingstone has the highest strike-rate in the team (170.88) and has become one of the most-feared hitter in the tournament, alongside the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Maxwell, and Heinrich Klaasen.
After a convincing nine-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals’ fans hoped that their team had rediscovered some form ahead of the play-offs. However, their dismal 59 all out in just 10.3 overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) came as a rude shock. Only Joe Root and Shimron Hetmyer reached double figures as Rajasthan recorded one of the lowest scores in IPL history.
Yuzvendra Chahal was aiming for a third consecutive four-wicket haul in that game, but ended up going wicketless. Adam Zampa and KM Asif took two wickets each. Zampa, despite limited opportunities, has taken seven wickets in 18 overs, with a strike rate of 15.42, second only to Chahal in the team. Ravichandran Ashwin has struggled to take wickets in the last four matches and has only reached double figures with the bat once in his last six innings.
Before this season, Dharamsala had hosted only ten IPL matches, with the last one taking place in 2013.
Also Read: Liam Livingstone Can Emulate Pietersen, His Hero
Venue and time
HPCA Stadium, Dharmasala. 7:30 PM
Expected conditions and toss
A cool evening in Dharamsala awaits both the teams. With the pitch a belter, the team winning the toss could opt to chase.
Head-to-head
Punjab have faced Rajasthan 25 times, with Rajasthan having won 14 times. Punjab emerged victorious on 11 occasions.
Likely Playing XIs and Impact Player
Atharva Taide could be Punjab Kings’ Impact Player despite being retired out in their last outing. Riyan Parag could be used as Impact sub by Rajasthan.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C, WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma.