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Match Details
Date: 27 March 2022
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
Ball-by-ball commentary: SportsTiger App
Preview
In the third game of the season, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will face each other at the DY Patil Stadium. Both teams have enjoyed playing against each other. However, Punjab have stayed a tad ahead of Bangalore in terms of head-to-head record. As both teams start a new journey under a new captain, they will also look to lift their maiden title this year. Both Punjab and Bangalore will be without a few of their players but still, it is expected to be a good contest.
Pitch Report
The pitch at DY Patil Stadium is somewhat similar to that of Wankhede Stadium. This means that the batters will enjoy their time in the middle with the ball coming onto the bat nicely. For pacers, there will be some bounce to exploit while the spinners may get to play a role in the second innings with the pitch slowing a bit.
Team analysis
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
RCB will be hoping for a fresh start with a new captain in the house. The management has made a good choice in Faf du Plessis. This will also help ease off the pressure on Virat Kohli and bring the best out of him, like in 2016. RCB have also roped in some promising youngsters like Anuj Rawat and Mahipal Lomror. These two are expected to make it to the playing XI right from the first game.
Meanwhile, veteran batter Dinesh Karthik will also be itching to prove his worth as a finisher. Although RCB will be without Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood in the first game, they have enough options to fill in. Sherfane Rutherford is expected to fill in for Maxwell while David Willey may find a place until Hazlewood returns.
SportsTiger Playing XI of RCB
Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Shehbaz Ahmad, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Mohammed Siraj
Punjab Kings:
With Mayank Agarwal appointed as the new leader, Punjab Kings will hope for a fine run this season. They also had a good auction and as a result, they will be having some good options to choose from. While Agarwal and Dhawan are expected to open, Liam Livingstone can come at no.3 until Jonny Bairstow is available. Shahrukh Khan, Odena Smith, and Harpreet Brar can fill the lower-middle-order slots. PBKS also have some good bowling options. However, their leader of the pace attack, Kagiso Rabada will join the team soon. Until then, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma, and Ishan Porel can do the job.
SportsTiger Playing XI of PBKS
Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Prerak Mankad, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma
Match Prediction:
Conclusion
Although Punjab have stayed a tad ahead of Bangalore, the new look RCB can win most games this season. They have the right balance while Punjab will badly miss Rabada in the first game.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the author’s point of view. They neither reflect the opinion of SportsTiger nor advise anyone to make any prediction based on this. SportsTiger does not assume any responsibility and liability for the same.