Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) met during the group stages at this venue in Mullanpur. Little did both teams, or anyone for that matter, know that one of the playoffs would be a rematch of that game. While both RCB and PBKS were still very much in the playoffs race, Mullanpur was never one of the venues scheduled to host any of the playoff matches. And Punjab didn’t mind that, since they didn’t exactly take a liking to playing here as their home venue. Before this season, they had won only one out of their five games in Mullanpur, making it unlike a venue where they would have dominated their opposition.
But all of their home woes couldn’t only be pinned to the venue. Before this season and since 2014, when they last played a final, Punjab were dismal regardless of the playing conditions. It wasn’t until their think tank decided to lay off all of their team but two, and bring in the winning combo of title-lifting captain and coach, that they finally saw their fate turning for the better. They ended the group stages at the top and will get two cracks at the final.
Qualifiers are a funny thing though. You get a safety cushion, but you aren’t allowed to be too laid back. Blink, and you might as well miss making it to the final. And in IPL, historically, the first Qualifier has sort of been a dress rehearsal. Eleven out of fifteen times since 2011, when the tournament first introduced the playoffs format, the teams who have played Qualifier 1 have also played the final (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024). And in all but one of those cases, the team winning the first qualifier went on to win the entire thing as well.
Team Overview:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB):
Josh Hazlewood makes his comeback for RCB, and they couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the playoffs. However, Tim David’s likely absence from this game due to a hamstring injury might just balance it off. David has been an X factor for RCB this entire season. He has only been dismissed three times out of the nine times he batted, which makes his batting average shoot up to a high 62, while striking at 185. Liam Livingstone replaced him against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and is likely to do so in this game as well.
Livingstone has had a horrible season. In his recent four games, he only dealt in 4s and 0s, with his total this season a dismal 87. At the expense of cutting their batting lineup short, RCB can get both Nuwan Thusara and Josh Hazlewood to play, but that might be a risk too dangerous to take at this crucial stage. Virat Kohli is RCB’s only contender for the Orange Cap and currently sits at the fifth position on the list.
This does raise questions about consistency in the rest of the RCB batters, and rightly so. Bengaluru’s No. 3 onwards batters average the least (17.84) among all teams. RCB have lost four games this season, three of which came when their top two failed to score at least 60 runs. With their lower middle order weakened further, RCB would be treading down a difficult road if they continue with the old ways.
Punjab Kings (PBKS):
With the WTC final-bound players having left India, PBKS will be without Marco Jansen, which is certain to bring them some squad balancing headaches. Punjab have Azmatullah Omarzai and Xavier Bartlett to replace him, but Jansen was a reliable option who added depth to the batting lineup and brought destruction with the ball. Josh Inglis sprouting back to form right when it matters the most has brought Punjab an unreal amount of relief. He scored a 14-ball 30, a 12-ball 32, and most recently against Mumbai Indians (MI), he thrashed a 42-ball 73-run knock. Promoting him to No. 3 has worked greatly in Punjab’s favour, which, when paired with their in-form opening pair, bolsters the top order to a tough limit.
Shreyas Iyer has recently been in decent form, but RCB has always been his least favourite opposition to bat against. He averages 27.06 against Bengaluru bowlers, the lowest among all teams against whom he has played at least five matches. Interestingly, Mullanpur too is one of Shreyas’ pet peeves. He scored 25 runs in four games played here this season, with an average of 6.25, which is his lowest among all venues.
Yuzvendra Chahal is returning after missing two games for Punjab. He, along with Arshdeep Singh, are PBKS’ best bet at getting the Purple Cap, though that doesn’t seem very likely given how far off they are. Nevertheless, Punjab’s bowling lineup has that element in it which is so very important to halt batters from going berserk in the shortest format.
Head-to-Head record:
PBKS and RCB have been neck and neck with each other in the 35 IPL games they have played so far. RCB have won 17 of these games, while PBKS have had an edge in 18.
Weather and Pitch Report:
The tracks in Mullanpur do not conform to a certain standard. This season, the venue saw the lowest target defense (111) as well as a successful chase of a target as high as 219. Spinners clearly have an advantage over pacers here, with them averaging 18.69 against fast bowlers’ 31.44. Teams batting second have only won one of the four games played here, so dew isn’t expected to make it easy for the team fielding first. The ground is one of the biggest venues by dimension in the country, so hitting the rope often shouldn’t be on the cards.
Prediction:
Both teams are more or less evenly poised, and in such cases everything trickles down to who holds their nerves. RCB, with their more appearances in such conditions, have somewhat mastered that art.
Where to Watch:
India: Star Sports Network, JioHotstar
UK: Sky Sports, SkyGo
USA: Willow TV
Australia: Kayo TV, FoxTel Go
Bangladesh: T Sports, Toffee app
New Zealand: Sky Sports NZ
Afghanistan: ATN
South Africa: SuperSport
Sri Lanka: Dialog
MENA: Cricbuzz
