Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh), May 9: Winning the toss, Punjab Kings (PBKS) stand-in skipper Sam Curran chose to field first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 58th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the HPCA Stadium, here on Thursday.
The team that wins can dream to enter the play-off, and the losing one will perhaps have to wait for the next edition to make it to the top four.
In their 32 previous encounters, Punjab Kings holds the lead with 17 wins whereas Bengaluru stands with 15 wins.
As per standings in the Points Table before Thursday's match, PBKS are eighth in the points table with four wins while RCB are seventh with same number of wins after 11 games.
Squads:
Punjab Kings XI: Sam Curran (Captain), Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Ashutosh Sharma, Harshal Patel Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh and Vidhwath Kaverappa.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru XI: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Mahipal Lomror,Cameroon Green, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, Mohammaed Siraj and Lockie Ferguson.
With Mumbai Indians out of the play-off race, by the end of PBKS-RCB battle on Thursday, one more team is expected to lose hearts for falling short of victories and points to book a berth among the top four.