Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings Prediction & Betting Tips -

Prediction published on 13/05/2024, 05:45  by Devesh Jaganath in Indian Premier League Predictions

The Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings will meet in match 65 of the 2024 Indian Premier League at the Barsapara Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The hosts are in second place in the league standings, while the visitors are bottom of the table. Three consecutive losses mean that the Rajasthan Royals have not secured their playoff berth yet. Four other teams are still in contention to reach 16 or more points. However, one of those teams is LSG, who have a negative net run rate (-0.769), making it highly improbable for them to surpass RR's run rate even with two wins (and two losses for RR). Nonetheless, the Royals will require one or two victories to ensure a top-two finish. Their most recent defeat came on Sunday when they were beaten by five wickets by the Chennai Super Kings. It was a poor batting display by the Royals, with only Riyan Parag managing a score of 47* while no other batsman made over 30. Ravichandran Ashwin took 2/35, but CSK were able to chase down the total with an over and four balls to spare. The Royals beat this opponent by three wickets earlier in the competition and are the bookmakers’ favourite in this one.

Meanwhile, after a bright start to the tournament, the Punjab Kings are now set to miss out on the playoffs and will play out their remaining games as a mere formality. They are currently on eight points after 12 games, meaning that even if they win their last two group-stage matches, they will not be able to catch the current fourth-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad on 14 points. This also marks PBKS’ tenth consecutive season missing out on the playoffs, having last made the final four in the inaugural year of IPL. Their fate was confirmed last Thursday when they were convincingly beaten by the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 60 runs. Riley Russouw and Shashank Singh scored 61 and 37 runs, respectively, but the side lacked firepower and depth, which saw them bowled out for 181 in the 17th over. While playoff qualification is no longer possible, the visitors will want to end the season on a positive note.