There is another double header of Indian Premier League action on Sunday and it begins with two sides who met in the IPL 2025 campaign as recently as Friday battling it out when the Punjab Kings host the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mullanpur.
Punjab won a rain affected contest in Bangalore on Friday and if they replicate that success here they will move to the top of the table. A place in the top four will be the reward for the Royal Challengers if they win so there is plenty on this.
Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings are enjoying an excellent season so far and their win over Bangalore in the reverse meeting on Friday was their fifth in seven games so they are well on track to reach the postseason. Were they to win here and hit top spot they might even begin to set their sights on securing a top two finish and having the two cracks at making it to the final that goes with that. That would all be a huge turnaround for a team who have gone so long since their last playoff tilt.
Punjab will probably know that the toss was all important in the game on Friday and it was a huge advantage to have won it but just because the coin toss went their way they still had to make the most of it, which they did, and now they will be looking for a repeat performance. They won the match with the ball really because any time you are chasing less than seven an over in this competition you should win. There is room for improvement with the bat which is no bad thing.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Royal Challengers Bangalore wouldn’t have wanted to lose the reverse meeting between these two but it wasn’t catastrophic from their point of view. They still have more wins than losses on the season and if they can extract a bit of revenge here they will be well on track for where they want to be. They just have to make sure that the defeat last time out doesn’t dent their confidence. It shouldn’t do because rain impacted matches often turn into lotteries and that was the case in that game.
Bangalore do have the reason to be disappointed with their batting in that match on Friday. It is never easy batting first after a spell of rain because the ball tends to do a lot more than it normally would and also you don’t really know what a good score is for the shortened distance. Bangalore went out to bat as if they needed a score in the 150 region even though the match was only 14 overs long and never looked like getting it in truth. In a 20 over match they will look to pace the innings much better.
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Key Players
The Punjab Kings wouldn’t have wanted Lockie Ferguson to go down but it has opened up the door for Xavier Bartlett to come in and take the new ball and that might help the Punjab Kings throughout their bowling innings.
Bangalore wouldn’t want to see Tim David at the crease with eight overs of the innings to go too often but he showed that he can do some damage in that situation in the previous match between these two when he clobbered 50 in no time. They will want him to have as big an impact here though.
Betting
I thought going into the tournament that the Punjab Kings were one of the better looking teams and that is what they have shown so far. They showed in the reverse meeting between these two as recently as Friday that they look to have the stronger XI so I’m a little bit surprised that bookmakers can’t split these teams. I do think that Punjab Kings have the better bowling attack and I’m a huge subscriber to the theory that it is the bowlers that win T20 matches, especially when home advantage is on their side.
I think Bangalore are a little top heavy with the bat and they front load their bowling innings so if they don’t pick up early wickets or a team is able to repair the damage and set up a late onslaught they are generally going to have a fair amount of joy. Punjab have an attack which can deliver across all phases of the game now, especially now that Yuzvendra Chahal looks to have found his groove and therefore I fancy the Punjab Kings to come out on top here.
Tips
Back Punjab Kings to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
