Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to inch closer to securing a play-offs berth when they take on Punjab Kings in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, on Sunday. Looking to lift the elusive IPL trophy for the first time, with 14 points, RCB are currently placed third in the IPL points table with seven wins and four losses.

Another two points will almost assure them of a place in the place-offs. In order to do this, the Bangalore-based team will have to see off an erratic PBKS, who have the knack of outperforming opponents when the stakes are high.

With their five-wicket victory over KKR, Punjab Kings, too, kept alive their prospects of making the play-offs, even though they are down at fifth position with 12 points after five wins and seven reverses.

Up against an ambitious RCB outfit, Punjab Kings will have their task cut out for them.

Even though he didn’t go on to make a big score, Virat Kohli looked good during his stay in the middle in his team’s victory over Rajasthan Royals, as did the skipper’s young opening partner Devdutt Padikkal.

The bowling will be manned by the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will again rely on their trusted opening duo of skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal to provide them a solid start.

They were among the runs against KKR, and will look to do an encore against RCB.

The biggest plus for Punjab Kings heading into the RCB game is their death bowling that paved the way for their win in the last match.

Teams (from):

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Navdeep Saini, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Rajat Patidar, Dushmantha Chameera, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Wanindu Hasaranga, George Garton, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, Kyle Jamieson, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat, Tim David, Akash Deep, AB de Villiers.

Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Nathan Ellis, Adil Rashid, Murugan Ashwin, Harpreet Brar, Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan, Aiden Markram, Mandeep Singh, Darsan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar, Jalaj Saxena.

Match starts: 3:30 pm IST.