RCB vs PBKS Preview: Bengaluru hope for a colourful beginning vs Punjab

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are set to play in front of their home fans for the first time in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as they take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, March 25.

RCB will look to bounce back after their six-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings in the season opener in Chepauk. Faf du Plessis got a good start in that game but Virat Kohli struggled to find his timing and so did Cameron Green.

Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell departed for ducks. Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik stitched a 95-run partnership off 50 balls to take the visitors to 173/6. However, it didn’t prove to be enough as the defending champions won with eight balls to spare. Green picked up a couple of wickets for RCB but no other bowler could make much of an impact.

PBKS, on the other hand, started their campaign with a four-wicket win against Delhi Capitals at their new home in Chandigarh. Arshdeep Singh starred with the ball in the first innings for Punjab as he finished with figures of 2/28 from his four overs. Chasing 175 for a win, PBKS won with four balls to spare after Sam Curran hit a 47-ball 63 and Liam Livingstone remained unbeaten on 38 off 21 balls.

Head to Head

PBKS have a slight edge on the head-to-head scoreline against Bengaluru. In 31 matches, the Punjab-based franchise has won 17 matches, while RCB has won the remaining 14.

Probable Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wk), Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Pitch Report

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is known to be one of the finest batting surfaces in India. It is also a venue where chasing teams do well as defending targets is very difficult. The boundaries are also small and bowlers have very little respite. Last year in the IPL, the average first-innings score was 196. The highest first-innings total was registered by Chennai Super Kings as they amassed 226/6 and won the match by eight runs.