Kings XI Punjab host Royal Challengers Bangalore in the only Indian Premier League (IPL) game for the day. The hosts remain on the fringes of top four but with only six games in hand, must start stringing positive results together, to make up ground on the leading pack of Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad; the four sides are six points clear of Punjab. Chennai Super Kings continue to lead the table, despite an embarrassing defeat to Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.

Shaun Marsh (Kings XI Punjab)
Reuters

Where to Watch Live

Play starts at 3.30pm BST. Live coverage is on ITV 4 and ITV 4 HD. Text updates are available on ESPN Cricinfo.

Overview

Punjab return home after a 15-run defeat at the home of two-time champions Chennai Super Kings. The loss, a sixth in 10 games, has seriously jeopardised qualification to the knock-out stages and means the side have not won since mid-April, when they beat Delhi Daredevils in an away game.

At Chennai, despite a reasonable start with the ball, Punjab wound up conceding 186/4 off 20 overs. Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony and R Sathish were particularly culpable, with the home side picking 93 off their eight overs. For the Super Kings, Indian batsman Suresh Raina scored a maiden IPL century, remaining unbeaten on 100 off 53 balls.

The Punjab batsmen were almost immediately in trouble, with the increasingly impressive Mohit Sharma removing both openers inside the first six overs. However, the middle order - the Australian trio of Shaun Marsh, David Hussey and David Miller - provided resistance and hope, with Marsh's 73 off 51 balls the highlight. Ultimately though, the failure of the openers cost Punjab and this is something they will want to avoid against Bangalore.

In addition, Punjab will also have to be very aware of the trio of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, any one of whom can take the game away from the opposition bowlers.

Meanwhile, Bangalore snapped a two-match losing streak by beating Pune Warriors by 17 runs in their last game. The Royal Challengers were perhaps over confident after a massive 130-run win over the Warriors in a home game; the tie that saw Gayle power 175 off 66 balls.

Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Reuters

That win was followed by defeats to Mumbai and Rajasthan but the side completed a double over the Warriors, to restore confidence in the final few weeks of the league season. Saurabh Tiwary and de Villiers led with half-centuries in posting 187/3 and R Vinay Kumar's 3/31 and Murali Kartik's 2/29 ensured a comfortable win.

As things stand, Bangalore need two or maybe three wins from the remaining five games to ensure qualification, and this is likely to be a good time to start that run.

Team Form

Kings XI Punjab

  • Last Five (most recent first): L L L W W
  • Last Match: Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by 15 runs

Royal Challengers Bangalore

  • Last Five (most recent first): W L L W W
  • Last Match: Pune Warriors lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 17 runs