PBKS vs RR Highlights, IPL 2021: Kartik Tyagi shines with last-over heroics in RR's thrilling 2-run win against PBKS

• 22: runs KL Rahul needs to complete 3000 IPL runs.

• 3: Mohammad Shami needs 3 more wickets to complete 50 wickets for Punjab Kings. He would be the 4th bowler after Piyush Chawla (84), Sandeep Sharma (71), Axar Patel (61).

• 50th : KL Rahul will be playing his 50th IPL match for Punjab Kings, if he takes the field vs Rajasthan Royal.

• 4 & 8: KL Rahul and Chris Gayle needs 4 and 8 sixes respectively to complete 100 sixes for Punjab Kings.

Most sixes for Punjab Kings in IPL

o KL Rahul- 96

o Chris Gayle- 92

o David Miller- 87

• 5 sixes: Mayank Agarwal needs to complete 50 sixes for Punjab Kings

• 50: Chris Gayle needs 50 more runs to complete 5000 IPL runs, he will be 7th batsman to reach this landmark.

• 50: Mayank Agarwal needs 50 more runs to complete 2000 IPL runs.

• 7: sixes Mandeep Singh needs to complete 100 sixes in T20s.

• 2: more runs Glenn Phillips needs to complete 4000 T20 runs.

• 6: wickets Chris Morris needs to complete 100 IPL wickets.

• 5: sixes Chris Morris needs to complete 100 sixes in T20s.

• 150: Liam Livingstone will be playing his 150th T20 game, if he takes the filed vs PBKS

• 50: more runs Liam Livingstone needs to complete 4000 T20 runs.

“We are good are chasing and setting totals, so we were happy to do both. We have really great talent and characters in our team. It is a very positive atmosphere. Sangakkara brings in the experience, he knows what to communicate at what point. He just wanted us to relax. Lewis, Livingstone, Morris and Mustafizur are our foreigners.”

"We'll bowl first. It's a no-brainer, a fresh wicket with grass on. We don't know how it will play and I prefer chasing. I was just telling a few people in the dressing room that it just felt like yesterday that we were playing IPL 2020. We have a lot that we've learned from last year. We are all professionals and we have tried hard in the heat to prefer ourselves. Pooran, Markram, Rashid and Allen are our overseas players. Unfortunately, Chris Gayle misses out and Aiden has been in good form coming into our setup from Sri Lanka."

CHRIS GAYLE, ON HIS BIRTHDAY, HAS BEEN LEFT OUT! Is this the right decision? Guess we will find out!

Punjab Kings have won the toss and have elected to bowl first

West Indies batsman and former Mumbai Indians opener Evin Lewis will make his debut today

Congratulations to Aiden Markram, Adil Rashid and Ishan Porel, who will be making their debuts today

Best Bowling Figures:

4/14 By Mohit Sharma (Chennai Super Kings) Against Mumbai

Indians In 2014.

Highest Partnership:

181 By Shane Watson And Faf Du Plessis (Chennai Super

Kings) For 1st Wicket Against Punjab Kings In 2020.

Win Rate Batting First:

50% (5 Won; 5 Lost)

Highest Team Total:

219/2 By Sunrisers Hyderabad Against Delhi Capitals In 2020.

Lowest Team Total:

109/10 By Royal Challengers Bangalore Against Punjab Kings

In 2020.

Highest Individual Score:

132 By KL Rahul (Punjab Kings) Against Royal Challengers

Bangalore In 2020.

Chris Morris with 14 wickets is the joint 2nd highest wicket-taker in the season. He registered his bowling figures in an innings this season vs KKR: 4/23.

• Most wickets in IPL 2021:

 Harshal Patel- 17 |  Chris Morris-14 |  Avesh Khan-14

IPL 2021 so far has been best for Morris in terms of bowling average and his strike rate in his IPL career.

Morris needs 6 more wickets to complete 100 IPL wickets.

Right, then! Just 30 minutes to go before both the captains walk out for the toss! Stay tuned! The countdown has begun!

PBKS Predicted XI vs RR: KL Rahul (captain/wicketkeeper), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh

RR Predicted XI vs PBKS: Sanju Samson (c/wk), Evin Lewis, Manan Vohra, David Miller, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya

Rajasthan Royals have picked the inform hard-hitting T20 batter across the globe for the 2nd half of the IPL 2021.

Liam Livingstone who missed the first half of the tournament is back after a successful The Hundred Men's Competition in the UK. Then they have roped in Evin Lewis and Glenn Phillips as replacements

All the three RR batsman feature in the top three in terms of most 6s smashed in this year

Mohammed Shami needs three more wickets to complete 50 IPL wickets for Punjab Kings. He would be the 4th bowler to reach this landmark.

Since 2019 when Shami was picked by Punjab Team, he has been the leading wicket-taker for the franchise by a mile. The 2nd highest wicket-taker after Shami is Arshdeep Singh with 19 wickets; a difference of 28 wickets.

Furthermore, if we look at wickets taken by Shami, 61.70% of his wicket have come in the death overs for Punjab Kings.

Take a look at how ICC has wished Chris Gayle, who could be in action today for the Punjab Kings.

In the first half of the IPL in India, Nicholas Pooran struggled for form, managing 28 runs in 6 innings including 4 ducks at a strike rate of 84.84

Overall in 2021, he has played 32 innings and has 5 ducks; which is joint-most by a batsman in T20s this year:

Nadif Chowdhury -5 |  Rashid Khan -5 |  Nicolas Pooran- 5 |  Joe Denly- 5.

Furthermore, it has been seen Pooran has done better in chase compared to setting a target for his team. His average in 2nd innings is more than 50% better than in 1st innings

RR's latest pick Shamsi is currently the third-highest wicket-taker in T20s this year.

Rajasthan Royals spinners so far in the IPL 2021 edition just managed to pick three wickets which is the least among all the spin attack.

But with the inclusion of World #1 T20 bowler Tabraiz Shamsi in their squad, RR has strengthened the spin department.

• Shamsi has picked 41 wickets in 2021 in T20s and has bowled at an economy rate of 6.60 which is his best in any calendar year with min. 10 matches played.

PBKS won by 4 runs (IPL 2021, Match 4)

RR won by 7 wickets (IPL 2020, Match 50)

RR won by 4 wickets (IPL 2020, Match 9)

PBKS won by 12 runs (IPL 2019, Match 32)

PBKS won by 14 runs (IPL 2019, Match 4)

In April, KL Rahul smashed a remarkable 91, off just 50 balls, to help his side post the massive total. Can Sanju induce some magic into his bowlers from behind the stumps today and get rid of Rahul early?

Rajasthan Royals' all-rounder may have found the range that was missing in the first half of the season. Should he continue like this, even spectators would need to put on a helmet.

In the last 5 matches, Rajasthan have won 2 and lost 3 matches

vs SRH: won by 55 runs

vs MI: lost by 7 wickets

vs KKR: won by 6 wickets

vs RCB: lost by 10 wickets

vs CSK: lost by 45 runs

In the last 5 matches, Punjab have won 2 and lost 3 matches

vs DC: lost by 7 wickets

vs RCB: won by 34 runs

vs KKR: lost by 5 wickets

vs MI: won by 9 wickets 

vs SRH: lost 9 wickets

The last time these teams met at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, it rained runs. PBKS posted 221/6 in their 20 overs and despite Samson hitting an impeccable 119, RR failed to chase down the target as they lost by four runs after finishing at 217/7.  Just to prove our last point, Rahul scored a fantastic 91. Can Samson and Co. avoid the PBKS encore?