Lagatar24 Desk
Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Punjab Kings in the 48th match of IPL 2021 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
RCB are relatively in a good position with 14 points from 11 matches. They would look to get to safety with a win as a win in this match will confirm their place in the playoffs and their chances of finishing at top-2 will also increase significantly. After losing the first two matches in the second leg, they bounced back well with two wins in two. Virat’s team has resolved many issues of playing-11. Their bowlers did well to restrict RR to 149 in the last match. KS Bharat’s good performance at No. 3 has reduced the team’s problem to a great extent. With the return of all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed, the balance of the team is also looking better than before.
On the other hand, Punjab have 10 points from 12 matches. So, a loss against Bengaluru, will make the way of Punjab to finish in the last-4 very difficult. Although their bowlers did well to restrict KKR to 165 after they were cruising at 120/2. But the middle-order has been a problem for a long time and the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram and Deepak Hooda need to step up big time.
Looking at the current state of the points table, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore are almost certain to go into the play-offs. At the same time, there is a competition between four teams including Punjab to become the fourth team. The other three teams are Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians (10 points from 12 matches both) and Rajasthan Royals (10 points from 12 matches). Punjab’s net run rate is still better than Mumbai and Rajasthan, but Kolkata is still ahead of them. Punjab must win their remaining matches to give themselves a chance of seeking into the playoffs.
