Rajasthan Royals won yesterday’s IPL Match against Punjab Kings by 3 wickets. The Royals won the toss at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh, and elected to bowl first on a wicket that offered swing and had some extra bounce.

Shikhar Dhawan missed the match due to injury. Vidarbha opener Atharva Taide replaced him. Sam Curran led the Punjab side. On the other hand, RR faced a body blow as Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Butler were ruled out due to injury. West Indian all-rounder Rovman Powell and Mumbai youngster Tanush Kotian made their debuts for the franchise.

Punjab struggled throughout their innings. They just scored 38 runs in the powerplay, the fourth-lowest powerplay score in the IPL 2024. Rajasthan bowlers chipped in with wickets at regular intervals to keep PBKS under control.

Bairstow fell to a left-arm spinner for the sixth time in the IPL. He was dismissed by Keshav Maharaj on 15. Jitesh Sharma (29 off 24) and Liam Livingstone (21 off 14) could not stay till the end to help Punjab get a healthy total on the board. Keshav Maharaj was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-23 in 4 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal regained his purple cap after he dismissed Prabhsimran for 10.

Ashutosh Sharma shines again

Ashutosh Sharma again provided a fighting total of 147/8 for the home side. The 25-year-old Madhya Pradesh batter played a handy cameo of 31 off 16 deliveries with 3 sixes and 1 four. He walked into bat when the team struggled at 103-6 in 16.1 overs.

In reply, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tanush Kotian started steadily in the powerplay but could not get going. Rajasthan was in a tricky situation as Punjab Kings did not allow them to cut loose. With their tight bowling, the Kings made the target of 147 look like 170. Rabada bowled very well, picking 2-18 in his 4 overs. It needed a Hetmeyer Special to take the Royals over the line.

Man of the Match

Hetmeyer came at the crease with RR needing 32 runs off 3.2 overs. The West Indian Southpaw was stranded alone as Dhruv Jurel and Rovman Powell got dismissed in quick successions. But Hetmeyer has finished close matches for RR time and again. He delivered a finishing masterclass with 27 runs off 10 deliveries with 3 sixes and 1 boundary. He took RR to victory with just 1 delivery remaining.

Top Wicket Taker

Kagiso Rabada took the top wicket in the PBKS vs RR match, scoring 2-18 in 4 overs.

Highest Run Scorer

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored the highest number of runs in the PBKS vs RR clash, scoring 39 runs off 28 deliveries with a strike rate of 139.29.

With this victory, Rajasthan Royals are first in the points table, while Punjab is eighth.

Points Table after PBKS vs RR Clash

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