PBKS vs RR Live Score, IPL 2026: Punjab 37/1 (3 ovs), Archer removes Priyansh

But Jofra Archer has the last laugh. He bowled a 151kph delivery and Priyansh Arya had no time to react. As Arya tried to pull, he miscued the shot and Nandre Burger took an easy catch.

Priyansh Arya got a four through the slip off an edge and then, Jofra Archer created another opportunity with a bouncer but it went over the slip fielder for a four.

Pryansh Arya goes after Nandre Burger. He has a strike rate of 260 in the powerplay and he continues in the same fashion. Arya smashes Burger for 4, 6, 4 and 4. Even an edge went through the slip and the gully for a four. He scores 21 runs off Burger's first over.

There is a little bit of seam movement but Prabhsimran Singh has managed to take advantage of that to score two boundaries against Jofra Archer.

It will be a challenging start for Punjab Kings as the pitch was under cover due to rain. Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh begin.

Punjab Kings have also made changes with vice-captain Shashank Singh out. PBKS have called in Suryansh Shedge

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Sub options: Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan

Rajasthan Royals have made two changes with out-of-form Shimron Hetmyer dropped for Dasun Shanaka. Ravi Bishnoi is also out for Yash Raj Punja. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (capt), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Brijesh Sharma, Nandre Burger, Yash Punja

Impact sub options: Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag has finally ended his toss jinx. He wins the toss and opts to bowl first against Punjab Kings.

It's a showdown between two super strikers of IPL 2026. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi vs Priyansh Arya. If Vaibhav strikes at 234.86, Priyansh does so with 249.01. The 15-year-old has runs behind him, 100 runs more than Arya. And as Punjab Kings clash with Rajasthan Royals, it will be the clash of two. The powerplay show will dictate who wins today.

Rajasthan are a more complicated story. They were the early-season pacesetters with four consecutive wins. They looked unbeatable in the first two weeks. Then came one win in four, with the latest defeat coming to SRH at Jaipur despite Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's 36-ball century. 

Sooryavanshi already has 357 runs at the top of the order this season, a 15-year-old leading the Royals' run-charts. Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel are batting beautifully, but the rest? RR's middle order has produced just one half-century from Nos. 4 to 8 and is averaging 20.6, while Shimron Hetmyer has 72 runs in six innings. Riyan Parag is also out of form. That's the gap PBKS will look to exploit.

The one ace RR have is Jofra Archer. 13 wickets in eight matches at an average of 17.92. If he gets two early ones, this becomes a different game.

PBKS are doing things this season that don't really happen in modern T20 cricket. In their last outing against Delhi Capitals, they chased down 265, the highest successful chase in IPL history, with Prabhsimran Singh (76) and Priyansh Arya (43) hammering 126 inside seven overs. 

Six wins, one washout, 13 points from seven games, and a playoff spot already in sight. There aren't many soft spots to attack. Add Cooper Connolly and Shreyas Iyer's form, Punjab Kings look even more dangerous. That was their batting. In the bowling department, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen have been the regular wicket-takers, making them one of the most balanced units in the tournament.

The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium has settled into the same rhythm it had last year, runs, runs, and more runs. After serving a pace-friendly pitch in the first game, Mullanpur has offered batting-friendly pitches with some assistance to seamers early on. 

The first-innings average at Mullanpur this season has been around 212, on a surface that offers true bounce, good pace, and an extra-quick outfield. The venue has already produced a 254/7 from PBKS against LSG this season. But this is where KKR were bowled out for 95 last year. So, it's not as if the pitch has eliminated bowlers entirely. But in general, this is one of the better batting decks on the IPL circuit right now, and the dimensions don't help bowlers either.

The toss equation is interesting because of dew. Conditions on Tuesday are expected to be humid, with temperatures around 28-30°C and no rain forecast, which means dew should arrive in the second innings. PBKS's chasing record this year has been frightening. Iyer and Punjab will absolutely want to bowl first if they win the toss.

This is one of those rivalries where the recent form and the historical record point in completely opposite directions. In 30 IPL meetings between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals, RR have won 17 to PBKS's 13. 

In IPL 2025, the two teams split the honours, RR winning their away game in New Chandigarh and Punjab prevailing in Jaipur. 

• Matches Played: 30
• Rajasthan Royals won: 17
• Punjab Kings won: 13