Bottom-placed Punjab Kings will take on second-placed Rajasthan Royals in match 65 of the Indian Premier League on Wednesday in Guwahati. (Key Battles | Full IPL Coverage)
This will be season's first of the two games at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati which is the second home base for the Royals.
Sanju Samson's RR had led the tournament table for a long time but three back-to-back losses have pushed them to the second spot. With qualification to the top 4 confirmed, RR would be gearing up for a top 2 finish with a win over the Kings.
Punjab Kings lost a lot of close games and now find themselves at the bottom of the table with only pride to play for. They would want to finish another disappointing season on a high and stay away from the Wooden Spoon.
Both teams will be missing the services of their respective Englishmen Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone.
Here are the key numbers from this rivalry that has consistently given last over thrillers in the recent past.
RR Vs PBKS Head-To-Head Record
Played 27
Rajasthan Royals 16
Punjab Kings 11
RR have a strong 16-11 lead over PBKS in their head to head record. The Kings have only been able to win two of the last eight games between these sides.
When the two sides met earlier this season, a late blitz from Shimron Hetmyer gave a RR a thrilling 3-wicket win in the last over.
RR Vs PBKS Highest Run-Scorers
Sanju Samson, the RR skipper, is also the leader when it comes to the batting charts in the encounters between the two teams.
He has 614 runs and is way ahead of the former PBKS skipper KL Rahul who scored 490 runs.
RR Vs PBKS Highest Individual Score
Sanju Samson's epic 119 which almost led RR to chase 222 is the highest individual score in the RR-PBKS clashes.
Shaun Marsh and Mayank Agarwal from PBKS are the other two centurions in the encounters between these two sides.
RR Vs PBKS Highest Wicket-Takers
PBKS bowling spearhead Arshdeep Singh already has 16 wickets in clashes between the two teams making him the most succesful bowler.
RR Vs PBKS Best Bowling Figures
Arshdeep's 5 for 32 is the best bowling figure by any bowler in the matches between RR and PBKS. In fact, he is the only bowler with a fifer in this rivarly. He took this fifer in PBKS' dramatic 2-run loss in Dubai in 2021.
