Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings to remain alive in IPL 2023 playoffs race (Sportzpics)
Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings by 4 wickets to keep their hopes of reaching the IPL 2023 playoffs alive after a narrow win
Dhruv Jurel scored the winning six as Rajasthan Royals kept their hopes alive of reaching the IPL 2023 playoffs with a 4-wicket victory over Punjab Kings. It was a narrow win and thus the inaugural IPL champs can only qualify if Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians lose their respective games, but Sanju Samson’s side did their job by winning their last league game.
Punjab Kings finished their ninth consecutive season outside the IPL playoffs as they finished in eighth place in the IPL 2023 points table.
RR needed to win the game inside 18.3 overs to boost their net run rate and have a chance of pipping RCB but they could only manage to finish the game with 2 balls to spare.
Thus, the only way the Royals can move into the top four is if RCB and Mumbai Indians drop points.
PBKS vs RR Highlights IPL 2023
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson had won the toss and elected to bowl first as his bowlers justified the call rattling the Punjab Kings’ opening order with some scintillating bowling.
Trent Boult picked up his 5th wicket in the first over itself continuing his rich vein of form in the powerplay as he dismissed Prabhsimran Singh. Atharva Taide and PBKS captain Shikhar Shawan both tried to steady the ship but they couldn’t stick around on the crease for long as Taide added 19 before falling to Navdeep Saini while Dhawan was outfoxed by Adam Zampa.
Liam Livingstone was the next man to depart, he had scored 94 at the same venue in the last match but was dismissed on 9 as Saini got his second wicket. Sam Curran then held the fort with Jitesh Sharma, the latter fired a brisk 44-run knock in 28 balls before falling prey to Saini.
Curran however was joined by Shahrukh Khan and the two of them helped provide a flourishing finish as they took PBKS to 187/5. 46 runs came in the last 2 overs, Curran returned unbeaten at 49 in 31 balls, while Shahrukh scored 41 in 23 deliveries as the Royals bowlers were taken to the cleaners.
Coming to the chase, it was a game to forget for Jos Buttler who registered his 5th duck of the IPL 2023 season, the most by any player in a single campaign. Yashasvi Jaiswal though continued his rich vein of form as he smashed a fifty to keep his side in the game.
Wickets kept falling at the other end, Devdutt Padikkal looked good and smashed a fifty as well but departed after scoring 51, Sanju Samson could only muster up 2 runs before Shimron Hetmyer joined Jaiswal.
Rishi Dhawan’s sublime catch ended Jaiswal’s stay at the crease, one of the rare good displays of fielding from Punjab who dropped many catches and leaked quite a few runs with slack effort from many players.
Hetmyer kept his side in the game with his big hits, Riyan Parag also played a quickfire 20 off 12 before impact player Dhruv Jurel ensured a tricky win.