IPL 2021, Match 32: PBKS vs RR, Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore are set to resume their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign against each other. The encounter takes place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday (September 21). Notably, both teams blew hot and cold in the first leg of the competition. With three wins in seven games, the Men in Pink were fifth in the team standings at the time of season suspension.

A place below is occupied by Punjab Kings, who won just three of their first eight games. Hence, both teams need to put up a substantial effort to make a place in the playoffs. It has to be noted there are some significant changes in both camps. While Australian pacers Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson won’t feature in the second leg, PBKS have signed Nathan Ellis and Adil Rashid as replacements. Besides them, Aiden Markram came in for Dawid Malan.

Speaking of Rajasthan Royals, the English trio of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer isn’t available. Nevertheless, the inaugural season champions have signed some potent players in Tabraiz Shamsi, Oshane Thomas, Evin Lewis. Hence, it would be interesting to see what combination both teams will go with.

Notably, the KL Rahul-led side walked away with a narrow four-run triumph when these two sides met in the first half. Electing to bat first in Mumbai, PBKS posted a mountain of 221/6 thanks to quick-fire half-centuries from skipper Rahul and Deepak Hooda.

In reply, the Men in Pink were in the hunt for the major part. In fact, skipper Sanju Samson slammed a stunning century. However, RR were restricted to 217/7. While PBKS would like to replicate their heroics, the inaugural-season champions will fight to settle the scores.

Meanwhile, let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the 32nd game of the Indian Premier League 2021:

Head to Head record: In the IPL history so far, both teams have played 22 games against each other. In these games, Rajasthan Royals have a slight edge as they won 12 games while the Punjab-based side emerged victoriously 10 times.

22 – KL Rahul is 22 runs away from completing 3000 IPL runs. He’ll become the second-fastest to reach the feat after Chris Gayle.

4 – Rahul needs to clear the fence four times to complete 100 sixes for Punjab Kings. He would become the first batter to do so.

8 – Chris Gayle can also reach the 100-sixes mark for PBKS. He’s eight hits away. If the southpaw achieves this feat, he would become the first player to smash 100 sixes for two IPL teams. He smashed 239 sixes while playing for RCB.

10 – Gayle needs 50 runs to become the seventh player to complete 5,000 IPL runs.

46 – Mayank Agarwal needs 46 runs to complete 2000 runs in the Indian Premier League.

6 – Chris Morris needs six wickets to complete 100 wickets in IPL. He’ll become the first South African to get the landmark.

2– Shreyas Gopal is two wickets away from completing 50 wickets in IPL. So far, he has scalped 48 wickets in 47 games.