Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings IPL tips | Match 34

RCB v PBKS best bets

Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings match preview

Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings are neck-and-neck in the IPL 2025 standings with eight points each, but it’s the home side who come into Saturday’s (AEST) clash with stronger form and more stability.

RCB romped to a nine-wicket win over Rajasthan last Sunday, chasing down 174 in just 17.3 overs. Phil Salt and Virat Kohli remain the form opening pair of the competition – Salt is striking at nearly 186, while Kohli has piled up 248 runs and 30 boundaries to date.

The bowling group, led by Josh Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya, is holding firm, and their early overs with the ball are proving pivotal.

Punjab, however, remain a riddle. After conceding 246 in defeat to Sunrisers, they then defended just 111 against Kolkata in one of the most bizarre turnarounds of the season. Their bowling clicked into gear that night, with Yuzvendra Chahal taking four wickets and Marco Jansen and Arshdeep Singh cleaning up the tail.

But consistency continues to elude them. They’ve lost five of their last six at this venue, and were beaten in their last three head-to-heads with RCB.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings predictions

RCB are notoriously poor value when odds-on with online bookmakers, but at home against an erratic Punjab unit, they’re worth backing. Kohli and Salt are in tremendous touch, their bowlers are executing well in the powerplay, and Punjab’s inconsistency – particularly with the bat – could haunt them again at a venue where they’ve won just twice in 13 attempts.

While Lockie Ferguson’s injury is a blow, Punjab still have firepower with Arshdeep Singh. He has seven wickets from his last four matches and showed excellent control against KKR. With RCB likely to attack from ball one, Arshdeep’s knack for picking up key scalps at either end of the innings means backing him to pick up three poles at +280 with BetOnline presents great value.

Josh Inglis was dismissed cheaply on debut, but the Aussie has been in red-hot form in international cricket this year, including a 110 in a T20I against India. If he retains his spot at No.4, expect him to settle quickly and get past his mark over 21.5 runs against an RCB bowling line-up that can be vulnerable in the middle overs.

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