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This contest always promises to be an entertaining contest . Rajasthan Royals have won 16 times against the Punjab Kings and Punjab kings have won 12 out of 28 matches were played between these two teams.
The PCA Stadium, Mohali has hosted 9 matches between these two teams and the home team managed to win 5 matches. On the other side Rajasthan Royals won't be too much disappointed about their record in Punjab as they have also won 4 out of 9 matches they played here.
The Sawai Mansingh Stadium Jaipur which serves as a home ground for the Royals and they have dominated Punjab Kings in their backyard . Rajasthan Royals have won 5 out of 6 matches they have played against Punjab Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
In the recent five matches between Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals. It was domination from the Royals as they won 4 out of 5 games against the Kings. Punjab Kings managed a victory in Guwahati which is second home of Rajasthan royals.
Most runs scored by any batter in the PBKS vs RR matches is the captain of Rajasthan Royals Sanju Samson.He have scored 632 runs against the Punjab Kings and dominated their bowling attack. Sanju has also scored a ton against PBKS.
Highest wicket taker in Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals matches is Indian speedster Arshdeep Singh in total he has took 17 wickets against the Royals . Arshdeep Singh have a good record against the Rajasthan Royals and he will look to continue his form in the coming matches.
Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to field first because of dew factor . Punjab Kings started the innings but Trent Boult gave the first breakthrough in the first over itself. It looked like Punjab Kings would reach a very low score as their batters like Shikhar Dhawan , Atharva Taide and Livingstone failed to get a big score and were dismissed cheaply. But low order partnership Between Sam Curran and Jitesh Sharma brought PBKS back in the game.
Shahrukh Khan also played a handy knock of 42(23) . Sam Curran 49*(31) and Jitesh Sharma 44(28) gave hope for Punjab Kings as they put together a total of 187/5 (20) . It was a good score to defend for a bowling lineup which features Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran and KG Rabada. Rajasthan Royals didn't get a good start as their two experienced players Jos Butler and Sanju Samson were dismissed cheaply for 0(4) & 2(3) respectively.
But Rajasthan Royals young brigade stepped up for them Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a half century before getting dismissed by Nathan Ellis . Devdutt Paddikkal and Shimron Hetmyer also played vital knocks of 51(30) & 46(28) respectively. It all came down to the last over . Which was bowled by Rahul Chahar and Dhruv Jurel was the batter . Rajasthan Royals needed 10 runs off the final over to win . Dhruv Jurel smashed the 4th ball for a six and sealed the victory for the Royals. Devdutt Paddikkal was awarded the Player of the match award for his knock of 51(30).
Way back in the starting era of the IPL these two teams faced each other in South Africa. Punjab Kings which was called KXIP that time was lead by Yuvraj Singh and defending champions Rajasthan Royals was lead by legendary leg spinner Shane Warne. While batting first Punjab lost their first wicket on the first ball of the match, run out from Ravindra Jadeja who was a Rajasthan Royals player that time got the start for the Royals. But steady knock from Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara steadied the ship for Punjab.
Captain Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene couldn't contribute much to the teams total and were dismissed in single figures . But a lower order contribution from Irfan Pathan 39(33) helped Punjab put up a respectable total of 139/6(20). It looked like a easy chase for the Rajasthan Royals. But Irfan Pathan had other plans. He took a wicket on the very first ball of his spell and also dismissed Graeme Smith in the same over. This put the Royals on the back foot and they never recovered from these blows. Yusuf Abdulla took 3 wickets while Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla took 2 wickets each. In the end Rajasthan Royals could only manage 112/7 (20) and Punjab won the game by 27 runs. Kumar Sangakkara was awarded the Player of the match.
Shreyas Iyer(c) , Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Harnoor Pannu, Pyla Avinash, P Singh, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Jitesh Sharma, A Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan,Suryansh Shedge, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, V Vijay kumar, Yash thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartler, Pravin Dubey.
This team a new looked Punjab Kings can be seen as the dynamic duo of Iyer- Ponting will be there in the PBKS setup . The team is filled with Australian and Mumbai domestic players and we know the obvious reasons . Shreyas has a good bond with Ponting and they managed to do well as a team. Punjab Kings this time features some exciting talents like Suryansh Shedge, Priyansh Arya and Musheer Khan. Spin attack with Yuzi Chahal is always deadly and they have some real good Indian pacer too but one thing which can bother them this season is the opening combination,will they go with Indian openers or with Josh Inglis.
Sanju Samson(c) , Shubham Dubey , V Suryavanshi , Kunal Rathore , Shimron Hetmyer , Yashasvi Jaiswal , Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana , Yudhvir Charak , Jofra Archer , M Theeksana , W Hasaranga , Akash Madhwal , Kumar Kartikeya , Tushar Deshpande, F Farooqui , K Maphaka , Ashok Sharma , Sandeep Sharma
RR management has decided to go with a young squad this season as we can see too many youngsters in their set up lead by captain Sanju Samson . They had good Auction but it was always going to be hard to find replacement’s of players like Jos Butler, Ashwin ,Yuzi and Trent Boult . Their strength is definitely their Indian batting lineup and weakness can be their fast bowling department.
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