Match 18 of the Indian Premier League brings us a clash between the unbeaten Punjab Kings and a resurgent Rajasthan Royals side at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on April 5.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
The Kings have definitely lived up to their early-season hype with two commanding away victories against the Gujarat Titans and the Lucknow Super Giants.
Having disposed of GT in their season opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Shreyas Iyer’s men made light work of an injury-riddled LSG side. After asking them to bat first, the PBKS bowlers made early in-roads by dismissing Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and skipper Rishabh Pant all inside the Powerplay. Contributions from Nicholas Pooran (44), Ayush Badoni (41), and Abdul Samad (27) could only propel LSG to a meagre 171/7. While chasing, PBKS lost Priyansh Arya (8) early to Digvesh Rathi (2/30), but explosive hitting from the likes of Prabhsimran Singh (69), Iyer (52*), and Impact Sub Nehal Wadhera (43*) saw them chase down the total with 22 balls to spare.
On the other hand, the Royals, having lost their opening two encounters, got the better of the Chennai Super Kings in their last game largely because of Nitish Rana’s 81 off 36, with Wanindu Hasaranga (4-35) running through the CSK middle order in the second innings with his wrong ‘uns.
RR will be relieved by Jofra Archer’s Powerplay bowling as well as the excellent work done by the others during the death overs, though head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Sanju Samson will be wary of the manner in which their batters collapsed against CSK towards the end.
Looking at both teams and putting the venue into context, PBKS have the edge in both batting and bowling over the inaugural IPL champions right now. Barring another night where a handful of players bail them out with match-defining performances, it’s hard to see how the Royals come away with two points from Mullanpur.
Fantasy XI: Dhruv Jurel, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Marcus Stoinis, Wanindu Hasaranga (vc), Glen Maxwell, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande
Venue: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur
Winners Prediction: Punjab Kings
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