Preview:

For the second time in three days, Punjab Kings will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru with the hope of completing a double over their opponents. The match in Bengaluru, a rain-marred fixture, was won by the Kings who took advantage of a sticky surface to prevail in a 14-over clash. Given the conditions in New Chandigarh, this could be another surface where the batters may have to use their smarts rather than the long handle.

Punjab Kings have ticked most boxes this season, and with five wins in seven games, they seem well on track to get into the playoffs at this point. What works in their favour is their high-flying intent at the start along with immense batting depth, coupled with an efficient bowling unit which makes them a side with most bases covered. In the initial games, their premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had a quiet time but the seasoned leggie has roared back in style over the last two games, including the historic defence of 111 here in New Chandigarh against KKR.

As head coach Ricky Ponting mentioned after that win against the defending champions, PBKS are a side brimming with confidence. However, they do face a RCB side that is yet to taste defeat on the road this season. Rajat Patidar's men may have been unable to crack the code at home so far, losing all three games in Bengaluru, but they have managed to ensure a 100 percent record in away games. This includes iconic wins in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Unlike previous years, this RCB outfit does have a better balance to it across all facets.

For starters, Phil Salt has been a priceless addition to the squad and the Englishman's trademark blitz at the top has been instrumental to RCB's wins so far. Captain Patidar, senior man Virat Kohli and Tim David have all looked in good touch with the odd cameos from Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. That said, this is a batting unit which will need to be smarter on tricky surfaces, given that most of the batters are flamboyant strokemakers. The bowling also lacks a potent spinner, although Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma have punched above their weight.

Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball are arguably the best opening duo with the ball this season. Their exploits will be critical once again if they are to rein in PBKS' ultra-aggressive batting unit. Given that both sides have free-flowing batters in the ranks, this battle could well be decided by which bowling unit steps up to the plate. Punjab Kings have a slight edge of form and momentum from the earlier fixture but Royal Challengers Bengaluru have shown already that they are a tough nut to crack away from home.

When: Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Match 37, IPL 2025, 3:30 PM IST

Where: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh

What to expect: In the three games this season, teams batting first breached the 200-run mark two times. The last game, though, saw an IPL record for the lowest ever total successfully defended. even as the pitch didn't seem that difficult. This will be the first afternoon game at this venue and also PBKS' final home game here before they move to Dharamsala. Expect another decent batting strip with some help for the spinners and change of pace bowlers.

Head to Head: Punjab Kings 18-16 Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Team News:

Punjab Kings

Injury and Availability: Lockie Ferguson continues to be out with injury and is likely to be ruled out of the remainder of this season.

Tactics and matchups: Harpreet Brar played his first game of the season in the previous fixture between the two sides. It was a strategic move, given the right-hand dominated batting line-up of RCB and Brar's impressive personal record against the franchise. The left-arm spinner returned two scalps and now has ten wickets in seven games against RCB at a frugal economy of 7.71. Yuzvendra Chahal also has favourable numbers against RHBs since the start of IPL 2024, conceding just 8.19 RPO with 18 wickets from 279 deliveries bowled and a dot ball percentage of 31.

Probable XII: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis(wk), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Injury and availability: No injuries or availability concerns have been reported.

Tactics and matchups: Among the batters with best strike-rates against spin this season (minimum 50 balls faced), Shreyas Iyer is the only batter not to be dismissed even once. He also has a strike-rate of 186.79, making him a big scalp on a potentially spin-conducive Mullanpur pitch. Krunal Pandya, though, has a good history against the PBKS captain who only strikes at 89.13 against the left-arm spinner. Iyer has only fallen once in 46 balls, scoring 41 runs but has been strangled by Krunal. This could be a key matchup in the contest.

Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.

Did you know?

- Of the batters with the highest strike-rate against spin this season (50-plus balls faced), Shreyas Iyer is the only batter not to be dismissed even once

- Royal Challengers Bengaluru have lost 17 wickets to short-of-a-good-length bowling from pacers this season, the most by any team

- Yuzvendra Chahal's stats against left-handers and right-handers have a big disparity since IPL 2024. Against RHBs, his economy is 8.19 with a bowling average of 21.16 which shoots up to 46.37 against LHBs at an economy of 11.07

What they said:

"Everyone has a role to play in the team. I tried to do that (whatever role was given to me) to my best. I like to bowl in the PowerPlay, but [am] ready to bowl in any situation. We know what's expected from us when we walk on the field, it makes it lot easier for us." - Marco Jansen reveals the secret behind PBKS' success so far this season.

"No matter how the wicket plays, we need to bat well and get a winning total. The bowling unit is doing pretty well, that's a big positive. The batters have played with intent, that's something pleasing. We can correct some of our mistakes in the batting unit." - Rajat Patidar is hopeful the batting department will improve for RCB.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh

Punjab Kings Squad: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash