PBKS vs RR 66th Match Prediction

PBKS vs RR Team Previews

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings lost their latest fixture, played against the Delhi Capitals on Wednesday, which has severely dented their chances of making it into the playoffs. They are now 8th on the points table. Even if they win here, they will only gave a theoretical chance of making it into the top-4.

The Kings have a strong batting line-up and have breached the 200-run barrier on 4 occasions this season. Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan, though not very consistent as an opening pair, have played well individually and are the joint-highest run scorers for the team. Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone have chipped in too to help the Punjab Kings put up some solid totals.

We saw an incredible attack by Livingstone to take his team to the brink of victory in the previous match. Almost all the PBKS batters have a good strike rate but getting the best out of the batting unit collectively has not been easy.

It is the bowling that has let the team down on more than one occasion and where PBKS seems to be falling behind rapidly.

They have conceded 200 or more runs 5 times this season, putting excessive pressure on the batsmen. While Arshdeep Singh is the leading wicket-taker for the team with 16 wickets, he has been taken for close to 10 runs per over. The Punjab Kings have some big names in their seam attack, including Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, and Kagiso Rabada, but all of them have leaked runs at over 9 runs per over.

In a team with so much international experience, PBKS seems to be struggling to find a good death bowling option.

The spinners, Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar were a bit economical but they failed to pick up wickets. Looking at the way that the Punjab Kings are performing at the moment, they will have a hard time overcoming quality opponents like RR. 

Rajasthan Royals

The Royals will be wondering how they got to this stage where they have a very slim chance of making it to the playoffs, and they have no one else but themselves to blame for it. After making a strong start to the season, which saw them occupy the top spot on the table for a brief period, things have gone downhill pretty rapidly for them. They have won just 2 of their last 8 matches, and have slipped to the 6th spot.

Buttler and Jaiswal were one of the strongest opening pairs at the start of the season. But Buttler has been rather inconsistent in his last few outings. Jaiswal on the other hand has been brilliant and is the third-highest run-scorer of the season.

We don't think eother of these players will change their approach. RR has to win by as big a margin as possible and then hope that some results go its way.

Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmeyer, Devdutt Padikkal, and Dhruv Jurel have all played some excellent innings but again, they have lacked consistency, which has led to a terrible run for the team. They are all brilliant strikers of the ball and will have the license to attack this time as well.

In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal is at the top of his game and is the leading wicket-taker for the Royals with 21 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin and Trent Boult have provided him with good support. Just like the batting, the other bowlers haven’t been consistent with the likes of Jason Holder, Zampa, and Sandeep Sharma being taken for plenty of runs at times.

The Royals will need to play well as a unit here if they want to win this match. Their brilliance at the start of the season has not been continued and the strength that they have on paper has not translated into anything of note.