IPL 2021, Match 48: RCB vs PBKS, Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 being it its business end, stakes are incredibly in the remaining league-stage games. In the 48th game of the competition, Royal Challengers Bangalore will meet Punjab Kings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. Both sides have a lot to play for and it would be interesting to see how the game folds.

A win for Virat Kohli and his men will see them officially securing a place in the playoffs. At the same time, Punjab Kings will stand in a do-or-die encounter as they need to win both their games to keep their playoff hopes alive. With the net run rate likely to come in the picture, the KL Rahul-led side also needs to focus on the margin of victory.

Notably, both teams are coming off victories and would take the field with confidence. As far as team balance is concerned, RCB seem to have found their best combination. On the other hand, PBKS, despite not having Chris Gayle in the ranks, looks pretty solid on the paper. However, they need to overcome their tendency of losing momentum out of nowhere. All in all, an exciting contest is on the cards.

Meanwhile, let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the 48th game of IPL 2021

Head to Head record: PBKS are a tad ahead of PBKS in terms of head-to-head record in IPL. In 27 clashes, Punjab have won 15 games while Bangalore emerged winners 12 times.

 3 – AB de Villiers is three hits away from becoming the second player after Chris Gayle to smash 250 sixes in the IPL.

4 – Mohammed Siraj needs four wickets to complete 50 wickets in the IPL. He currently has 46 wickets in as many appearances.

67 – KL Rahul is 67 runs shy of becoming the highest run-scorer for the Punjab-based team. Shaun Marsh currently holds the record with 2477 runs.

20 – Rahul needs 20 more runs to regain the orange cap. While the PBKS opener has 489 runs in IPL 2021, Ruturaj Gaikwad (508) tops the list.

2 – Harshal Patel needs two wickets to become Indian with most wickets in an IPL season. While he has scalped 26 wickets in IPL 2021, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (27) is above him.

4 – Mohammed Shami has dismissed Virat Kohli as many as four times in IPL. Only Ashish Nehra (6) and Sandeep Sharma (7) have dismissed him more times in the competition.

412 – Rahul has scored 412 runs against RCB since IPL 2018, most for any player.  He has smashed two half-centuries and a ton in this period.

103 –Rahul averages 103 against RCB, the highest for any player against any current team in IPL (min: 300 runs).

6.07 – Ravi Bishnoi’s economy rate of 6.07 is the least for any bowler in IPL 2020 (Minimum 20 overs bowled).