Cricket betting tips: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings

After match 58 of the 2025 Indian Premier League between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was ended after 10.1 overs due to floodlight failure on Thursday 8th May, the tournament was thrown into uncertainty.

The following day saw the competition, and that of the Pakistan Super League over the border, suspended as the conflict between India and Pakistan intensified. At one stage it looked as though both seasons would be restarted in either the UAE or England, with the option of delaying until September also explored.

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Thankfully, a ceasefire has been brokered and both tournaments will now resume in their respective countries this Saturday!

In the IPL, there are 13 remaining group stage fixtures ahead of the play-offs but we still have no side guaranteed a place in the top four. Three teams are already eliminated but those same franchises will have an influence on who progresses to the knockouts.

It all gets back underway on Saturday evening as second placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru take on Kolkata Knight Riders in sixth, before third placed Punjab Kings travel to Jaipur to lockhorns with next to bottom Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders preview

Although RCB remain in an excellent position in the table, the suspension of the tournament could well have interrupted their momentum. Rajat Patidar’s side had won four games on the bounce and looked on course to claim a play-off position for the fifth time in six campaigns.

They easily brushed aside KKR by seven wickets with 22 balls remaining when they met in the season opener at Eden Gardens and ended a run of four head to head defeats at the same time.

However, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has returned home and his could be big shoes to fill considering he had taken six wickets in RCB’s last two matches. The 34 year old also had a key role in the clash between the teams in March, picking up a wicket in the first and last overs of KKR’s innings.

KKR look set to have their full complement of players to choose from which will be a big boost for the 2024 champions who suffered a shock defeat against bottom of the table Chennai Super Kings in their last game before the suspension.

They resume three points from the play-offs but a victory at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium will see Ajinkya Rahane’s side end Saturday only two points behind Punjab Kings in third.

FIRST’s top tip for Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Virat Kohli to be top batter in the match - 12/5 (10bet)

The all-time IPL leading run scorer is enjoying another fine campaign and is one of only five players to have already hit 500+ runs in this 2025 tournament.

He has finished as the top batter in the match four times so far in this year’s competition, has hit half-centuries in his last four innings and will now be focused purely on securing a first IPL title for RCB after announcing his retirement from Test cricket on Monday.

Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings preview

Not even a suspension and a resumption can change what has been a miserable IPL season for Rajasthan Royals who get their campaign back underway on Sunday with only net-run-rate keeping them off the foot of the table.

They have won only three games all season and lost seven of their last eight, but the pause in the tournament could mean that their skipper and opening batter Sanju Samson is able to return after a finger injury had seen him miss games.

Rajasthan came out on top by 50 runs when the teams met in Mullanpur and Jofra Archer, who took the Player of the Match award with 3/25 in that game, will be available for this fixture.

That defeat for Punjab Kings is one of only three they have suffered so far this season and they had won four of their previous five completed matches before the tournament came to an abrupt halt.

It was 2014 when Punjab last experienced the play-offs but this 2025 side have been very impressive and they will be one point from the summit of the table when the competition resumes on Saturday.

FIRST’s top tip for Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings

Arshdeep Singh to be top bowler in the match - 2/1 Highbet

The left-arm swing bowler has been one of the most consistent performers with the ball in the IPL since 2021 and is enjoying another fruitful campaign with 16 wickets at a strike-rate of 13.6.

He took five wickets across his last two matches and has conceded 8.66 runs per over or fewer in each of his last five innings.

Extra tips

Ajinkya Rahane to be Kolkata Knight Riders’ top batter (vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru) - 3/1 Ladbrokes

The 36 year old hit 48 runs in KKR’s defeat against CSK in their most recent game to make it four matches in total this season where the skipper has been his side’s leading run scorer.

Rahane has a fine record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, one of only two venues where he has hit an IPL century, and where he averages 50.14 with a strike-rate of 152.61 from eight innings.

Prabhsimran Singh to score a half-century (Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings) - 12/5 Highbet

The Punjab Kings opener looked set for another big score when the floodlights failed against Delhi Capitals with the 24 year old 50 not out from 28 balls.

That innings means that he has scored 50+ in four successive IPL innings for the first time in his career and has boosted his average to 44.27 in this season.

Ahead of the resumption, Punjab are the only team with a batting run-rate of 10+ and Prabhsimran is one of the main reasons for this!

Odds correct at the time of writing.