Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2023, Today Match Prediction

pbks vs rcb Match Prediction & Analysis

RCB will face the hosts Punjab Kings in Mohali as they desperately look for a win to pull themselves up in the rankings. Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell had set RCB on their way to a big win chasing 227 runs.

Even after their dismissal, it wasn’t a big ask as 46 off 24 with 6 wickets in hand was very much chaseable at the venue. Punjab Kings secured a narrow win in a close encounter against LSG in their last match.

They lost 8 wickets on their way to 161 runs and if it weren’t for Shahrukh Khan’s 23 off 10 balls at the death, Punjab could have missed out on the win. PBKS posted a competitive total in their first game in Mohali against KKR where the openers got off to a flying start.

However, they’ve struggled to reach a decent total since then. The pitch at this venue is good for batting and teams have chased down 180+ totals here in the IPL. Faf du Plessis and co. will have an edge in that regard while the home team will back its bowlers to do the job for them.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Punjab Kings Preview

Punjab Kings will be back to Mohali for their third home game. After getting off to a winning start with two back to back wins, Punjab lost their rhythm and lost two of their next 3 matches.

While they are at number 5, ahead of RCB in the points table, their batting hasn’t been in the best shape. Before their win over LSG, PBKS managed to score just 153-8 and 143-9 batting first against GT and SRH.

The batting collapse against Sunrisers was huge and it was Dhawan’s unbeaten 99 that helped PBKS reach 143 runs. The batting struggles started since then and continue to trouble Punjab Kings.

Prabhsimran Singh is out of form and will be a big concern for the home team going into this match. Matthew Short at number 3 has looked in good touch and also delivered a few good knocks in recent outings.

Since no other batters are consistent, PBKS would be expecting Short to stay on the crease longer and play a bigger innings. Sikandar Raza is a good option in the middle order and Punjab would continue playing him in place of Rajapaksa. Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh, and Rabada are all reliable pacers in the side and we reckon they would deliver timely breakthroughs

Punjab Kings Predicted Playing XI:

Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rishi Dhawan, Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings Actual Playing XI:

Arshdeep Singh, Atharva Taide, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Short, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Singh, Harpreet Brar, Jitesh Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran

Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview

Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered their second loss at home this season in their last match against CSK. This was the second time RCB lost in spite of scoring 200+ runs.

One can blame the venue for such games where the bowlers have nothing going their way and it all comes down to big-hitting abilities. Mohali is a much better venue in terms of competitiveness between the bat and ball.

The likes of Hasaranga and Maxwell will have a good outing on this surface in Mohali. Maxwell has been a part of the Punjab Kings in the past and has played plenty of cricket on this ground. 

He is in great form and looks confident of clearing the boundary. He will be a key player to watch out for in the RCB setup. Virat Kohli has also been exceptional this season at the top of the RCB lineup. 

RCB openers are in sublime form and can get the team off to an ideal start. However, no matter what kind of form these three batsmen are in, RCB needs to be wary of their dependency on them.

In case Rabada and Curran get rid of Kohli and Faf du Plessis early in the innings, RCB would find themselves in trouble. Wayne Parnell is a good all-round option for RCB and they should stick with him in spite of his failure in the last outing.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Predicted Playing XI:

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj

Royal Challengers Bangalore Actual Playing XI:

Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Virat Kohli, Wayne Parnell, Faf du Plessis, Suyash Prabhudessai, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel, Wanidu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch at this venue in Mohali isn’t as fast as it used to be but still offers great help for the batters. There have been some brilliant batting performances on this ground in the IPL including Punjab’s opening match of this season. There will be isolated thunderstorms in Mohali with a high of 27 degrees Celsius on the match day.

Venue Details

Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali is the venue for this match. This will be the third match at this venue this season. The average 1st innings score on this ground is 166 runs and we reckon 190+ would be a match-winning total at this venue.

Toss: To Bowl

The conditions at this venue are ideal for chasing and the stats also indicate this with teams batting second winning 33 of the 58 domestic T20s. RCB would still want to chase a total even though they lost their last game. And Punjab aren’t in a great shape to post a match-winning total while batting first.

PBKS vs RCB
Winning Prediction

Punjab Kings are in desperate need of a comeback from their middle order. While Dhawan can lead them at the top with a captain’s knock, his opening partner is out of form, and there haven’t been any big knocks from the middle order. This puts them on the backfoot against a team like RCB that features the best of T20 talent in their top-order. The bowling attack is Punjab’s best hope. Overall, RCB has the upper hand in this contest with an all-round side that has many impact players and will start as favourites in our match prediction.

Our prediction is for Royal Challengers Bangalore to win

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