Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals: Punjab to continue their impressive form and their hunt for the top four

The teams separated by just two points go head to head in this craking game in the Indian Premier League. Will Rajasthan widen the gap between them and Punjab or will Punjab continue their impressive form and reach the top four for the first time this season?

Punjab had a lot of disappointing results in the season but when push come to shove they managed to beat the league leaders in the form of Gujarat Titans in the last game. With an impressive bowling lineup, they cleaned Gujarat for less than 150 runs. The batters joined the party with impressive performances from Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were enough for them to see over the line. The form of skipper Mayank Agarwal will again be a cause of concern but if the other members take up the responsibility, the path to the playoffs will be manageable.

Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma

All the teams who did well in the opening half of the tournament are feeling the heat from those below them. Rajsthan have fallen from grace, once they were on the top of the table and now they are with two consecutive losses in the tournament. Things can change very quickly if they don't work upon the batting lineup as that is the cause of their downfall in recent games. Too much reliance on Jos Butler at the top and Hetmyer in the end phases is the cause of concern for the team in pink.

Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Karun Nair/Rassie van der Dussen, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen

The pitch will be good to bat on as always in Wankhede but there won't be any due for the team batting second which makes the game even. We are expecting Punjab to do well with their bowling lineup and their batters to lead them to victory.

• PBKS to win for 1.98;
• Total Over 320.5 for 1.9;
• Total Runs, Over Number 1 Under 5.5 for 2