Virat Kohli’s side will aim to avoid last-minute confusions

Royal Challengers Bangalore are in with a golden opportunity to further their chances of making it to the play-offs when they meet Punjab Kings on Sunday. Their task is cut out by Punjab’s late, yet strong resurgence, but RCB remain favourites on paper with odds of 1.68 to beat Punjab Kings.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, have been impressive in the last couple of matches, especially in how they have shaped up as a bowling unit. They have odds of 2.14 to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, and might be in with a real chance given how useful their spinners might be against RCB batters. 

Overall and recent record back Punjab Kings

Overall, Punjab Kings have won 15 matches while RCB have won 12 in head to head encounters. Of more interest is the fact that in the last two seasons – 2021 and 2020 – RCB haven’t managed to beat Punjab.

RECOMMENDED BET: Punjab Kings have some x-factor bowlers who can turn this game in their favour and have odds of 2.14 to beat RCB.

When these teams met earlier in the first leg, an unbeaten 91 from KL Rahul and a three-wicket haul from Harpreet Brar saw Punjab to a win. Bishnoi, who took two, and Brar shared five of the eight RCB wickets to fall then.

Keep an eye on… 

AB de Villiers: The AB de Villiers threat is negated by the presence of Ravi Bishnoi and his googlies against which the South African has a poor match-up. However, RCB can counter this by keeping de Villiers for the death overs where he can be destructive.

Bishnoi factor: Bishnoi has had a terrific second leg of IPL 2021 and teams have struggled to read him. Barring Glenn Maxwell and to an extent Srikar Bharat, RCB’s batters aren’t convincing against spin and Punjab will hope to exploit that.

TIP: Ravi Bishnoi has been in terrific form and matches up well against RCB batters. He has odds of 3.75 to be Punjab’s top bowler.