PBKS vs RCB Highlights: KL Rahul, Harpreet Brar star in Punjab Kings' 34-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore

His first over went for 10, so Kohli makes Siraj bowl from the other end. Starts off with a dot ball, followed by a single as Rahul glides the ball to third man. Alright then, this brings Chris Gayle on strike.

A wicket followed by three dot balls. But just three runs off the over. Kyle Jamieson off to a fantastic start against PBKS. They are 21/1 after 4 overs.

OUT! Jamieson strikes, Punjab Kings lose first wicket as Singh falls. PBKS 19/1. Prabhsimran tries to give himself room but top edges the ball in the air which lands safely in the hands of Virat Kohli. Right then, RCB strike early, which brings out Chris Gayle.

So just one over there for Mohammed Siraj, as he gets replaced by Kyle Jamieson. Begins with a rank half-volley and he must consider himself lucky that Rahul hit to Virat Kohli, who certainly saved a four there.

One bounce and into the fence she goes. Prabhsimran has been looking to go after the bowlers and he connects. Not the best timing on that one but enough to take the ball almost for six. Rahul not too happy with the shot as the replay shows but he sure would be pleased with the end result there. PBKS 18/0 after 3 overs.

Daniel Sams returns for his second over and continues to land the ball in the perfect good-length area. Two dot balls and a single. Already, the swing seems to have disappeared and Rahul and Prabhsimran can get things going.

And the skipper is away. Short ball from Siraj and Rahul brings out the pull shot in style for the first six of the innings. The bat made a crunching sound, and the replay showed the ball connected the sweep spot. Two overs gone, PBKS 13/0

Excellent start to the innings from Daniel Sams. There was pace, there was swing, enough to put doubt in the batsmen's mind as early as the first over. PBKS 3/0 after 1 over.

Swing on offer for left-arm pacer Sams. In the slot but Rahul is slightly circumspect and hits the ball straight to mid-off for a single. Slip comes out to midwicket. Prabhsimran on strike and the ball viciously swings back into the right-hander. Another single taken.

Full, straight and on the money. Daniel Sams starts the innings with a yorker. Dead on, spot on. Rahul got his bat down in time, losing his balance a little. Great, great Start. Makes the next ball jag back in slightly. The first two balls already posing questions.

Well, it seemed for a moment that with Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle would open the innings with KL Rahul. But surprise, surprise, it's Mayank's replacement, Prabhsimran Singh who has walked out to open for PBKS along with his skipper. Daniel Sams to bowl the first over for RCB.

If Punjab Kings go on to lose against RCB, it will put them in quite a predicament. They would need to win at least six games out of the remaining seven after this to have a shot at Playoffs. Needless to say, how other teams perform will also have a role decide PBKS' fate.

Virat Kohli's speeches are one of the best motivators one can look up to. His stirring speech ahead of RCB's IPL 2021 opener was quite something and although we can't hear them anymore, expect captain Kohli to fire up his army only in the manner he can.

It was during his tenure with Royal Challengers Bangalore that Chris Gayle made a name for himself in the IPL and went on to become one of the most destructive batsmen in the league. Similarly, Glenn Maxwell became the Big Show in the IPL for his performances for Punjab Kings. However, today, both players are playing for different teams, opposite a team they have earlier represented. Who will have the laugh... Gayle or Maxwell?

1 Virat Kohli, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

1 Chris Gayle, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Prabhsimran Singh, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Chris Jordan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Riley Meredith

Virat Kohli: More confident now, we gonna bowl first. So the game last night, short boundary on one side. The pitch was two paced last night, so we want to bowl first. Shahbaz comes in for Sundar looking at the composition of their side. Even when you win games, you need to rectify stuff. We have stepped in with six or seven bowling options each game, so that gives me a lot of comfort and space. The bowlers have been on their mark, all credit to them.

One change for RCB: Shahbaz Ahmed comes in for Washington Sundar. Punjab Kings make three chances. Moises Henriques, Arshdeep Singh and Mayank Agarwal are out. Riley Meredith, Prabhsimran Singh and Harpreet Brar are in.

Time is running out for the Punjab Kings, and making some tough decision is the need of the hour. Click here to find out the Probable XI of Punjab Kings against RCB tonight.

Even though RCB won their previous contest, do not rule out the possibility of Kohli fielding a different Playing XI. With Patidar and Shahbaz Ahmed failing to make it count, RCB might hand debut to a promising domestic batsman, who made headlines not too long ago. Click here to read RCB's Probable XI against PBKS tonight.

It's been a pretty up and down rivalry over the years between the two teams. PBKS won the first three games before RCB responded with four straight wins. The Kings peeled off five straight wins and Bangalore levelled it up with four of their own. But last year's double, where Rahul broke the record for the highest individual score by an Indian, has given Preity Zinta's side a slight edge. They lead RCB 14 games to 12 in the 26 matches played so far.

Death bowling has been RCB's biggest problem over the years and coming into the season, they didn't seem to have solve that riddle. Enter Harshal Patel, whose brilliant over against MI helped RCB in a last-ball chase. And although he lost his head when Sir Jadeja put him to the sword, the season rebounded with 2/34 against the Delhi Capitals. That put him well on course to break his teammate Yuzvendra Chahal's record for the highest wickets by an uncapped Indian in a single IPL season.

When Deepak Hooda hammered his highest IPL score in Punjab's season opener, it seems the PBKS had given Nicholas Pooran the cushion to play the finisher's role. However, six games later, neither batsmen in thriving in any role. Hooda has managed a highest score of 22 not out in the last four innings and scored just over a run-a-ball. With the season approaching its half-way stage, another failure might just see Pooran promoted back to No. 4, where he has a strike-rate of nearly 180 in IPL.

The resilient Royal Challengers Bangalore saw off a late surge from the Delhi Capitals to earn their third final-over win this season. They have score to settle from last season, where they lost both encounters in the UAE in IPL 2020.

The Punjab Kings continued to struggle with the bat as KKR pounced on them to move out of last place. KL Rahul and company now have the three lowest first-innings total this season and are once again well off a place in the Playoffs at the moment. A win tonight promises to go a long way as Punjab Kings try and reduce the deficit between them and other teams.