Bengaluru, Apr 18 (UNI) Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first in a rain-curtailed 14-over-a-side clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday night.

The toss, originally scheduled for 7:00 PM, was delayed by over two-and-a-half hours due to persistent drizzle and was eventually held at 9:30 PM.

Play commenced at 9:45 PM with the first innings scheduled till 10:45 PM, followed by a 10-minute innings break. The second innings was slated from 10:55 PM to 11:55 PM.

Under the revised playing conditions, the powerplay was restricted to the first four overs. Each side could deploy three bowlers for a maximum of four overs apiece, while a fourth bowler was allowed to bowl the remaining two overs.

Speaking at the toss, RCB's Rajat Patidar emphasised the need for tactical awareness. “We have to be smart in adapting to the conditions. The surface feels a bit sticky, but it's hard underneath. We’ll try to put up a good total. It's the same team, but I’m still undecided on the impact player,” he said.

PBKS captain Iyer said the decision to chase was based on the ground conditions and the nature of a shortened game. “We will bowl first. This is a good ground to chase on, especially in a rain-hit match where conditions can be unpredictable. That was always the plan. Stoinis comes in for Maxwell, and Harpreet Brar is in,” he stated.

Teams:

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

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

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh

Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Glenn Maxwell, Praveen Dubey

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