IPL 2025: PBKS eye third straight win against RR
What's the story
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is in for an exciting Super Saturday with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) taking on the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
The match will be held at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh.
This will be PBKS's first home match of the season.
The team will look to continue their winning momentum after winning their first two games.
Here we look at the match preview.
Team status
RR seek improvement after slow season start
While PBKS are off to a flier, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have had a slow start to IPL 2025 under Riyan Parag's leadership. They have only managed to win one out of three games so far.
However, the team is buoyed by their recent victory against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the return of Sanju Samson as captain.
Despite this, there are still several aspects they are keen on improving in their season performance.
Pitch conditions
Pitch report and streaming details
Though the Mullanpur venue is new to the IPL, it has witnessed a few high-scoring matches.
Although there have been cases of spinners getting some assistance on this ground, the short dimensions generally favor batters over bowlers.
This could pave the way for an exciting and high-scoring game.
Meanwhile, the match will start from 7:30pm onward. Fans can watch the game live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Jiostar app and website.
Historical matchups
PBKS and RR's head-to-head record
Historically, PBKS and RR have faced each other 28 times, with the former winning 12 matches and the latter 16 (including Super Over wins).
Their recent clashes have been high voltage as both these teams own two wins apiece in their last four meetings.
This makes this game even more exciting. However, given their form and performances, the hosts would start as favorites.
XIs
Predicted line-ups for MI vs RR
RR (Predicted playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk) Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma.
PBKS(Predicted playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Impact subs: Shubham Dubey and Nehal Wadhera.
Poll
