PBKS vs RCB Live Score, IPL 2021, Match 26: Punjab Kings hope to revive floundering campaign

IPL 2021, Live Cricket Score, Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Follow this space for the latest update on the 26th match of the season.

Preview: Punjab Kings (PBKS) desperately hope to revive their floundering campaign and keep their chances of making it to the playoffs alive when they take on the high-flying Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

With the tournament nearing its halfway stage — the PBKS-RCB match being the 26th of the 56 league stage games this season — the points table is starting to paint a picture of the teams that are likely are make it to the last four of the competition, and Bangalore are among the teams that are strong favourites at this point, having won five of their six games including four games on the bounce at the start of the season.

It therefore goes without saying that Virat Kohli's men will be entering this game as strong favourites, given the fact that departments such as the middle order and the bowling unit are flourishing along with their top order. Add to the fact that they're coming off a thrilling one-run win over Delhi Capitals, a victory that would've helped them regain their confidence after getting outplayed at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, captains of Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Sportzpics

Punjab, who had suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last outing, have faced a myriad of problems so far this season. Despite their star-studded batting order that boasts of the likes of KL Rahul and Chris Gayle in their top three, the Kings haven't quite been able to score as freely as they would've liked which have led to sub-par scores.

Barring individuals such as Mohammed Shami and Ravi Bishnoi — who was initially benched for a few games — the bowling unit hasn't prospered either, leading to even more headache for the team leadership. The Anil Kumble-coached side though, will hope they are able to come up with answers later this evening.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (w), Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Daniel Christian, Sachin Baby, Srikar Bharat, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed

Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (wk/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Dawid Malan, Jalaj Saxena, Murugan Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar, Jhye Richardson, Ishan Porel, Riley Meredith, Utkarsh Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar