As scattered clouds hover above the Baraspara Cricket stadium, awaiting its spectators to witness a storm ahead when the two mighty heads, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings clash to display a power-packed performance.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS (RR) V/S PUNJAB KINGS (PBKS): 8TH MATCH OF IPL 2023
The highly anticipated match showcased the 2008 IPL title holder, Rajasthan Royals with the highest winning prediction playing 94 out of 194 IPL matches. While the Punjab Kings played the underdog role seeking to rectify their scoreboard which hosted a striking phase of winning 98 out of 218 IPL matches.
Teams
Rajasthan Royals: Captain Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, KC Cariappa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Abdul Basith, Murugan Ashwin, KM Asif, Trent Boult, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Donovan Ferreira, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Kunal Singh Rathore, Joe Root, Adam Zampa, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Obed McCoy, Dhruv Jurel, Navdeep Saini, Akash Vasisht
Punjab Kings: Captain Shikhar Dhawan, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Raj Bawa, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Vidwath Kaverappa, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide, Jitesh Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Prabhsimran Singh, M Shahrukh Khan, Mathew Short, Shivam Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksha.
Rajasthan Royals stats
The Rajasthan Royals had previously dominated this IPL season with 14 wins and a winning percentage of 4 out of 5 matches. RR was last seen depicting a swoon-worthy 72-run win over Sunrise Hyderabad on the 4th of March pinning the scoreboard on RR 2: 0 SRH. The Royals commanded the grounds with their top order batters Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Yashasvi Jaiswal recording their respective fifties paving the Royals to pen down to a total of 203/5.
The winning momentum came into action when the Royals took control of their batting grounds experiencing a clean finish from Jos Buttler’s performance with a 20-ball fifty record footing with the upcoming sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal, who raised 54 runs from 37 balls. And their team captain picked up the phase smashing half-centuries by batting aggressively to shoot a total of 203/5.
While the team chased for a target of 204 runs leaving the SRH team restricted to 131/8 in 20 overs. The bowler’s team left no crumbs launching a bowling attack taking 4 wickets with a score of 4/17 and 2/21 led by premier pacers Yuzvendra Chahal and New Zealand quick Trent Boult. With strong battling and bowling leads the PBKS are in to demonstrate a rigorous victory treat.
Punjab Kings stats
Despite championing an average streak the Punjab Kings triumphed a milestone against the two times IPL champions, Kolkata Knight Riders by sweeping a 7-run DLS method in the 2nd match of this IPL season. With an overall winning record of 10 IPL wins, the PKBS commenced their game with a 12-ball 23 run by Prabhsimran Singh while Bhanuka Rajapaksha stood out reigning the platform with a 50 off 32 on board with a rapid half-century.
PBKS top-order Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan scored 40/29 and good cameos from the middle-order batters ultimately raged the score panel by 191/5 in 20 overs. The young left-arm India pacer Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, and Sikandar Raza left the ground spellbound posing as Punjab King’s winning leap for this season.
Despite the absence of key players such as Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada, Punjab King’s was able to prove their thriving potential competence in the batting and bowling grounds, indicating that the match on Wednesday would be an action-packed visual treat for its spectators.
Venue: Ground report
The 8th IPL match is the first ever played at Baraspara Cricket Stadium, Assam with an average first innings score of 177.5. Among the matches played in this venue, the teams batting first have won one game and the teams batting second have won one game. The T20 match played so far witnessed its pacers bowling with 11 wickets while the spinners took only 5 wickets. The Wednesday match will serve as the pitch for both teams to exhibit their skilled façade and gain popularity among the Assamese locals.
