Punjab Kings (PBKS) will lock horns with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their second match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Assam, on Wednesday, April 5.
Led by their talismanic captain Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab Kings will head into their upcoming fixture brimming with confidence after they started the new season by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven runs (DLS method) at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Saturday.
The Trevor Bayliss-coached outfit rode on star batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s maiden IPL fifty and captain Dhawan’s 29-ball 40 to post 191/5 in their allotted 20 overs. For PBKS, opener Prabhsimran Singh (23), wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma (21), Sikandar Raza (16), Sam Curran (26 not out) and Shahrukh Khan (11 not out) also made some valuable contributions with the bat to help their side post a good total.
Later, Punjab Kings’ left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh bagged three wickets while Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Curran and Raza picked up one wicket each to help restrict KKR to 146/7 in 16 overs before rain played spoilsport and the outcome of the match was decided by Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS).
Meanwhile, the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) also started their IPL 2023 campaign on a winning note as the inaugural champions secured a comprehensive 72-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Put into bat, the Royals rode on fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal (54), Jos Buttler (54) and Samson (55) to post a mammoth score of 203/5 in their 20 overs. Later, Yuzvendra Chahal’s four-wicket haul and Trent Boult’s two wickets up front helped the Royals restrict SRH to 131/8 in their allotted overs.
Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals head-to-head
Punjab Kings have won nine of the 23 matches against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. The Royals have registered 14 victories over the Kings so far.
Interestingly, the upcoming encounter will be the first-ever IPL match to be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
The Kings will be confident to put in another all-round show against the Royals to register their second win of the tournament on Wednesday. The match will start at 7:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).
