PBKS vs RR Match Prediction: Who will win today's IPL 2024 match?
Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) has produced plenty of memorable moments over the years in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Sanju Samson's sensational century in a losing cause, Rahul Tewatia's first escape act against Sheldon Cottrell, Kartik Tyagi's brilliant final over, Ravichandran Ashwin's run out of Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end - despite being a clash between two relatively low-profile teams, the contest has never failed to deliver.
On Saturday, April 13, PBKS and RR will face off in a different setting, the former's new home ground in Mullanpur. While the Kings will want to string together a few wins to get some momentum into their campaign, the Royals will have an eye on getting back to winning ways after dropping their first points of the season in the last game.
RR are sitting pretty at the top of the table, with four wins from five matches and the second-best net run rate in the competition, so they do not need to worry. Having won three of their last five matches against PBKS, Samson and company will start as the outright favorites.
PBKS, meanwhile, have more losses than wins in IPL 2024. Another defeat could make it extremely tough for them to get out of the midtable cluster, and that's a fate they wouldn't want to be consigned to so early in the season.
Can Rajasthan return to the win column and reaffirm their spot at the summit of the standings? Or will Punjab cause another upset in IPL 2024?
IPL 2024, PBKS vs RR Win Probability: Sanju Samson and Co. start as outright favorites in Mullanpur
Yashasvi Jaiswal hasn't played a single notable knock in IPL 2024, but RR won't be too worried about his form. The southpaw is bound to deliver at some point, and the likes of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag have more than made up for his lack of output.
In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal has been impressive. The leg-spinner is closing in on 200 IPL wickets, and at a ground that hasn't been too kind to the slower bowlers so far, he could stand out once again.
Nandre Burger, if fit, will likely return to the fold for PBKS, who haven't seen any of their top-order batters get stuck in often enough. Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, and Sikandar Raza have gotten starts, but none of them have done enough, leaving Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma to wage a difficult battle at the end of the innings.
Shashank and Ashutosh did pull it off once but fell short in the previous game. Against the Royals, who usually have an additional bowling option and a well-rounded attack, that might not be possible.
PBKS are a good team on paper, but batting and death bowling have ended up costing them in IPL 2024. RR are a team well poised to take advantage of both shortcomings and can be backed to secure two points from this encounter.
Prediction: RR to win Match 27 of IPL 2024.