Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will face each other in Match No.66 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Saturday, May 20 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala.
The Kings, led by Shikhar Dhawan, are alive in the race for a playoff berth, but chances of them going through are remote. They are placed eighth in the table and need plenty of factors to go in their favour. They will go into the game after losing to David Warner’s Delhi Capitals (DC) by 15 runs on Wednesday. Liam Livingstone scored 94 and tried his heart out, but his valiant efforts went in vain.
The Royals, on the other hand, are also in a must-win scenario. They will look to bounce back losing to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a mammoth margin of 112 runs in their last home match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Sanju Samson’s men were bowled out for 59. But since their net run rate is still in the positives, they have a better chance of advancing to the playoffs than PBKS.
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PBKS vs RR head-to-head record
The Royals are leading the head-to-head count for the time being. But PBKS have the potential to close the gap with a win in the next match.
Here is a look at how the current PBKS vs RR head-to-head record stands:
| Matches played | 25 |
| PBKS won | 11 |
| RR won | 14 |
| N/R | 0 |
PBKS vs RR IPL match results
The Royals have won four out of their last six matches against the Kings. But on most instances, the matches went right down to the wire. The two teams have pretty much been equally matched throughout.
Here is a more detailed look at how this rivalry has unfolded:
| Date | Winner | Won By | Venue |
| 05-Apr-2023 | Punjab Kings | 5 Runs | Guwahati |
| 07-May-2022 | Rajasthan Royals | 6 Wickets | Mumbai |
| 21-Sep-2021 | Rajasthan Royals | 2 Runs | Dubai |
| 12-Apr-2021 | Punjab Kings | 4 Runs | Mumbai |
| 30-Oct-2020 | Rajasthan Royals | 7 Wickets | Abu Dhabi |
| 27-Sep-2020 | Rajasthan Royals | 4 Wickets | Sharjah |
| 16-Apr-2019 | Punjab Kings | 12 Runs | Mohali |
| 25-Mar-2019 | Punjab Kings | 14 Runs | Jaipur |
| 8-May-2018 | Rajasthan Royals | 15 Runs | Jaipur |
| 6-May-2018 | Punjab Kings | 6 Wickets | Indore |
| 21-Apr-2015 | Punjab Kings | One-Over Eliminator | Ahmedabad |
| 10-Apr-2015 | Rajasthan Royals | 26 Runs | Pune |
| 23-May-2014 | Punjab Kings | 16 Runs | Sharjah |
| 20-Apr-2014 | Punjab Kings | 7 Wickets | Mohali |
| 9-May-2013 | Rajasthan Royals | 8 Wickets | Mohali |
| 14-Apr-2013 | Rajasthan Royals | 6 Wickets | Jaipur |
| 5-May-2012 | Rajasthan Royals | 43 Runs | Mohali |
| 6-Apr-2012 | Rajasthan Royals | 31 Runs | Jaipur |
| 21-Apr-2011 | Punjab Kings | 48 Runs | Mohali |
| 7-Apr-2010 | Rajasthan Royals | 9 Wickets | Jaipur |
| 24-Mar-2010 | Rajasthan Royals | 31 Runs | Mohali |
| 05-May-2009 | Rajasthan Royals | 78 Runs | Durban |
| 26-Apr-2009 | Punjab Kings | 27 Runs | Cape Town |
| 28-May-2008 | Punjab Kings | 41 Runs | Mohali |
| 21-Apr-2008 | Rajasthan Royals | 6 Wickets | Jaipur |
PBKS vs RR IPL stats
Most runs
Sanju Samson, the skipper of the Royals, is the leading run-scorer in matches between the two teams. The right-handed batter has scored 594 and will be looking to add more to his tally. KL Rahul and Shaun Marsh are the other batters to have scored above 400 runs. Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler also feature in the list.
| Player name | Runs | |||
| Sanju Samson | 594 | |||
| KL Rahul | 490 | |||
| Shaun Marsh | 409 | |||
| Ajinkya Rahane | 373 | |||
| Jos Buttler | 325 | |||
Phir kal milte hai, @rajasthanroyals! 🤝#PBKSvRR #TATAIPL #JazbaHaiPunjabi #SaddaPunjab | @SDhawan25 @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/qSWas6adcX
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 18, 2023
Most wickets
Arshdeep Singh is the joint leading wicket-taker in contests between the two IPL teams. The left-armer has 14 wickets to his name. Piyush Chawla, who is playing for the Mumbai Indians, also has 14 scalps to show for his efforts. Siddharth Trivedi, Mohammed Shami and James Faulkner also feature in thew list.
| Player name | Wickets |
| Arshdeep Singh | 14 |
| Piyush Chawla | 14 |
| Siddharth Trivedi | 11 |
| Mohammed Shami | 10 |
| James Faulkner | 10 |
Best match in the Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals head-to-head
Back on September 27, 2020, the Royals and the Kings were involved in a humdinger at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. In the end, it was RR, who won the match by four wickets with three balls remaining.
Here is how the match unfolded
After being put in to bat first, the Kings scored 223 for the loss of two wickets in their 20 overs. Mayank Agarwal was their star performer after he scored 106 runs off 50 balls with 10 fours and seven sixes. However, his knock went in vain as the Royals chased the target down in 19.3 overs.
Sanju Samson became the Player of the Match after he scored 82 runs off 42 balls with four fours and seven sixes. Steve Smith also chipped in with a knock of 50. But it was Rahul Tewatia, who scored 53 off 31 with seven sixes and took the Royals past the finish line. Tewatia hit Sheldon Cottrell for 30 runs in a single over to bring the Royals right back into the contest.
