Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) clash in a must-win match no.66 of the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) at Dharamsala's Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Friday, May 19. Both teams are struggling in the bottom half with 12 points from 13 games and need a win in their last group-stage game to remain alive in the race for playoff qualification.
Shikhar Dhawan-led PBKS fell 15 runs short while chasing a 214-run target against Delhi Capitals in their last game. Liam Livingstone smashed 94 off 48 and Atharva Taide scored 55 runs but it was not enough for Punjab. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals suffered an embarrassing 112-run thrashing by Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match as they were bowled out on just 59 runs while chasing 171 runs. Punjab are likely to stick with the last playing XI but Rajasthan are expected to bring Trent Boult into attack in the place of spinner Adam Zampa.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Match 66
Venue: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
Date & Time: Friday, May 19, 7:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
PBKS vs RR Probable Playing XIs
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh (Impact Player)
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(c & wk), Joe Root, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, KM Asif (Impact Player)
Pitch and Weather Report
The pitch at Dharamsala's Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium favors batters in T20 cricket. The venue has short boundaries and dew is expected in the second innings of the game. So teams will prefer bowling first in this fixture. The average first innings score here is 179 in 10 IPL games with teams batting first winning six matches. Delhi Capitals posted a 213-run total while batting first and Punjab Kings scored almost 200 runs in reply in the most recent game here.
There is no forecast for rain in Dharamsala during game time. Temperature is likely to hover around 23 degree Celsius during game time and will decrease to 20 towards the end of game time. There is a 0% of chance of rain during the match time.
PBKS vs RR Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Sanju Samson
Rajasthan Royals skipper scored just four runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last game but has been in decent form this season. Samson top-scored with 42 off 25 against Punjab Kings in the most recent fixture between the two teams. He has amazing numbers against Punjab Kings with 594 runs from 16 IPL matches at an average of 45.69 and a strike rate of 153.88. In IPL 2023, Samson has scored 360 runs from 13 innings at a strike rate of 154.50 so far.
Best Bowler of the Match: Yuzvendra Chahal
The Purple Cap holder is enjoying another great season despite his team's struggles. Chahal failed to get wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last match and also leaked 9.3 runs per over. But he is leading the bowling chart for the Royals with 21 wickets from 13 innings at an impressive economy rate of 8.02.
Who will win the Match: Rajasthan Royals (RR)
