Dhawan, Prabhsimran helps Punjab Kings register 5-run win despite RR’s late flourish
Chandigarh: Punjab Kings won their second consecutive match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season against Rajasthan Royals. After winning the toss, RR chose to bowl first. PBKS started well with Prabhsimran Singh scoring 60 in just 34 balls. Shikhar Dhawan contributed 86 runs, leading his team to set a total of 197 runs. RR failed to chase the target, despite Sanju Samson scoring 42 runs. Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) produced yet another thrilling game as the Punjab-based outfit registered their second consecutive win of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, while RR suffered their first defeat of the season.
Earlier, RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to bowl first. Uncapped batter Prabhsimran Singh gave PBKS a brilliant start as he took down the strong bowling unit In a superb display of fearless batting in the powerplay, Prabhsimran scored a knock of 60 in 34 balls.
The Kings suffered a huge blow as the in-form Bhaunka Rajapaksa suffered a freak injury and had to retire hurt. After a slow start, PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan took matters into his own hands and scored a knock of 86 in 56 balls to help the 2014 runner-up post a total of 197 on the board. Jason Holder was the pick of the bowlers with a 2-wicket haul.
A finger injury sustained by Jos Buttler while fielding forced RR to change their opening pair, but instead of promoting Sanju Samson or Devdutt Padikkal, RR promoted R Ashwin, but the move backfired as he was dismissed for a duck. Yashasvi Jaiswal was also dismissed early, with Arshdeep Singh dismissing him for a knock of 11 runs in 8 balls.
Jos Buttler walked out to bat at number three but had a rare failure, with Nathan Ellis dismissing him for a knock of 19 in 11 balls. Ellis bowled a stunning spell that saw him take four wickets and concede just 29 runs. Sanju Samson looked in fluent touch and looked set to take his team to victory. However, he was dismissed after making 42 runs in 25 balls, a knock that saw him become RR’s leading run-scorer in history.
After Devdutt Padikkal’s lacklustre knock of 21 in 26 balls and Riyan Parag’s dismissal, it looked like PBKS were on course for a big win. However, Shimron Hetmyer and impact player Dhurv Jurel had other plans as they turned the game on its head with 37 runs coming in the 18th and 19th overs.
RR needed 16 runs in the last over with the IPL’s most expensive player, Sam Curran, bowling. Curran proved his worth as he kept his nerve with some stunning death over bowling to seal a 5-run win for PBKS.