Punjab Kings (PBKS) are set to play their first home game of IPL 2025 as they will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match number 18 of the season at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on April 5. The new-looked PBKS side led by Shreyas Iyer have been looking in dominant form after two consecutive wins so far and will look to get a hat-trick of wins playing their first home game of the season.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals also got their first win against Chennai Super Kings after consecutive losses in the first two games. Apart from that, Sanju Samson is set to be back as RR captain after playing only as a batter in the first three matches. Let’s have a look at today’s cricket match prediction, pitch report, head-to-head and key players ahead of the 18th match of IPL 2025 between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
PBKS vs RR Match Details
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Match |
Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Match 18 |
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Venue |
Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh |
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Date & Time |
Friday, April 5, 7:30 PM (IST) |
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Live Broadcast & Streaming Details |
JioHotstar (app and website) and Star Sports Network |
PBKS vs RR Pitch Report
The newly-constructed stadium in New Chandigarh is a new home venue for PBKS in the IPL and provides an equal contest for both the batters and the bowlers. Out of five IPL matches played at this ground the team batting first won twice while chasing team come out victorious on three occasions. The average score at this ground is around 167 runs.
PBKS vs RR Head-to-Head in IPL
Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals have been a part of thrilling contests in the last few years in the IPL. Out of 28 matches played between both the teams in the IPL so far, PBKS won 16 times while RR defeated them on 12 occasions.
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Total Matches played |
28 |
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PBKS won |
16 |
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RR won |
12 |
PBKS vs RR Weather Report
The weather in New Chandigarh looks clear for the clash between PBKS and RR. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 34 degrees with 25% humidity.
PBKS vs RR Probable Playing XIs
PBKS Probable Playing 11 : Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Player Substitute: Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal
RR Probable Playing 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sandeep Sharma
Impact player Substitute: Priyansh Arya, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar
PBKS vs RR IPL 2025 Full Squads
Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Praveen Dubey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Inglis, Azmatullah Omarzai
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Kumar Kartikeya, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi
PBKS vs RR, Match 18: Key Players
Prabhsimran Singh: PBKS opener Prabhsimran looked in great touch with his match-winning half-century in the last game against LSG and will be confident to get another big knock.
Prabhsimran Singh IPL 2025 Stats:
| Matches | Runs | Avg. | S/R |
| 2 | 74 | 37.00 | 176.19 |
Marcus Stoinis: Marcus Stoinis can provide more strength to a strong batting lineup of PBKS and could also play as a handy fast bowler.
Marcus Stoinis IPL 2025 Stats:
| Matches | Runs | Avg. | S/R |
| 2 | 20 | 20.00 | 133.33 |
Dhruv Jurel: Dhruv Jurel is RR’s highest run scorer for RR in IPL 2025 and could play a crucial role in the middle-order with his quick 30s and 40s.
Dhruv Jurel IPL 2025 Stats:
| Matches | Runs | Avg. | S/R |
| 3 | 106 | 35.33 | 151.43 |
Sandeep Sharma: Fast bowler Sandeep Sharma can turn the match around with his bowling in death overs and can also take big wickets.
Sandeep Sharma IPL 2025 Stats:
| Matches | Wickets | Eco. | S/R |
| 3 | 2 | 10.40 | 30.00 |
Today Cricket Match Prediction
Toss Prediction: PBKS to win the toss
Scenario 1: PBKS opt to bat first
1st innings prediction: PBKS to post 190-200 runs
Match Prediction: PBKS to win
Scenario 2: PBKS opt to bowl first
1st innings prediction: RR to post 170-180 runs
Match Prediction: PBKS to win
