While fate is no longer in their hands, Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will push for a win in a bid to marginally stay alive in the race for the IPL (Indian Premier League) playoffs when they face off at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.
Tied on 12 points with one league match to play, PBKS and RR’s horizons have conspicuously converged.
Both teams lost steam in the latter half of the tournament, losing two of their last six matches, after making promising starts to their respective campaigns.
PBKS conceded five 200-plus totals in its last seven games while RR has failed to defend two totals in excess of 200 of late.
Given that more than 400 runs were aggregated at the venue in Kings’ 15-run defeat to Capitals two nights ago and that both teams have a penchant for big totals, the side batting first will refrain from complacency. PBKS’ thrilling five-run win while defending 197 against RR earlier in the tournament is now a distant memory.
However, fresh in RR’s conscience will be its humiliating capitulation against Royal Challengers Bangalore when it was bundled out for 59 – the season’s lowest score and the third lowest in the tournament’s history.
Its openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler failed to open their account in that game but will have their tails up against PBKS’ bowling, which has been toothless in the PowerPlay, conceding 9.20 runs an over while averaging more than 50 runs per wicket.
Jaiswal, in the midst of a breakthrough tournament, shook off the demons of his two-ball duck against RCB with an hour-long net session on the eve of the match.
He polished his pull shots against the sidearm thrower on a wicket with appreciable bounce while Ravichandran Ashwin too had an extended session with the bat, striking a flurry of big hits down the ground.
Kings’ shaky top order will be wary of Trent Boult, who has picked nine of Royals’ 15 wickets in the PowerPlay and should return to the side on a pacer-friendly wicket. How Punjab’s hard-hitting middle-order, and Liam Livingstone in particular, shapes up against spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Ashwin will interesting to see.
PBKS’ spinners Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar are the only bowlers from their team with an economy rate of under 8.50 this season and will be key in tying up RR’s wobbly middle-order, which has notably struggled against the tweakers. RR skipper Sanju Samson has blown hot and cold but his strike rate of 170.31 against spin can negate the spin threat.
Plundering and leaking runs at the death have been tropes for both teams lately and this is where their fates could decisively converge.
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