Chandigarh, May 29 (UNI) Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and elected to field against Punjab Kings in IPL Qualifier 1 at the Yadvindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar said the decision was driven by pitch conditions, which feature a hard surface with a decent grass cover. "We will bowl first. Wicket looks very hard, decent covering of grass and we will try to maximise the first few overs," he said.
Praising the team's effort in the previous match, Patidar highlighted key contributions from Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma and Virat Kohli, saying, "Everyone gave more than 100 percent in the last game, Jitesh, Salt and Kohli were tremendous."
RCB made one change, bringing in Josh Hazlewood in place of Nuwan Thushara.
PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer said he too would have preferred to bowl first but remained upbeat. "If you look at the record here, teams batting first have done well, so I am optimistic," he noted.
Iyer lauded his team's energy and intent, adding, "They have been showing the fearless approach and the attitude has been brilliant."
PBKS made a solitary change, with Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai coming in for Marco Jansen.
The pitch at Mullanpur is expected to offer early assistance to fast bowlers due to a thick grass cover at one end, while the other end might aid spinners due to minimal grass and a drier surface. Slight moisture in the atmosphere could also bring dew into play later in the evening.
Of the four games played here this season, three have been won by teams batting first – all under lights. The only successful chase came in a day match, adding intrigue to RCB’s decision to field first in this night fixture.
Teams:
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson
Impact Subs: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlet.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Impact Subs: Mayank Agarawal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh.
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