Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match No. 34 of the Indian Premier League 2025 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday night. The match has been reduced to 14 overs per side due to rain. The match will feature a four-over powerplay. According to the revised rules, three bowlers can bowl a maximum of four overs each, while one bowler can bowl two overs.

RCB are currently placed third on the points table with four wins and two losses. PBKS are just behind at fourth with an identical win-loss record but a slightly lower net run rate. Both teams are coming into the game on the back of impressive victories and will look to move to the top of the table with a strong result.

In their last outing, RCB chased down a target of 174 against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. The Bengaluru side won by nine wickets with 15 balls to spare. Devdutt Padikkal made a solid contribution, while Phil Salt and Virat Kohli hit half-centuries. Krunal Pandya stood out with the ball, returning figures of 1 for 29 in four overs.

PBKS pulled off a remarkable win in their previous game by defending a 112-run total against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was the lowest total ever defended in IPL history. Marco Jansen and Yuzvendra Chahal took three and four wickets respectively.

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said the team would stick to their original plan of fielding first in such situations. “It’s a good ground to chase and it’s a rain-interrupted game. We will have a fair idea of how the wicket plays,” Iyer said. He confirmed that Marcus Stoinis had come into the side in place of Glenn Maxwell and Harpreet Brar was also included in the playing XI.

RCB skipper Rajat Patidar said his side would focus on adapting to the changing conditions. “We have to be smart in adapting to the conditions. It’s a bit sticky, but the surface looks hard. We will try our best to put a good total on the board,” Patidar said. He added that the team remained unchanged but there was some confusion over the Impact Player choice.

Playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (captain), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shashank Singh, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Substitutes

RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh

PBKS: Prabhsimran Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Glenn Maxwell, Praveen Dubey

The match is expected to begin shortly if weather permits.