RR vs PBKS Highlights: Rajasthan Still Alive In Playoff Race Punjab Get Eliminated
Rajasthan will have to rely on other matches results and hope for better run rate to qualify for playoff.
Crickate
RR vs PBKS Highlights: Friday in Dharamshala, Rajasthan Royals kept their playoff hopes alive with a four-wicket victory over Punjab Kings, which ended Punjab Kings' Indian Premier League 2023 season.
In keeping with the pattern of this season, the match was a back-and-forth affair, but Sanju Samson's team eventually prevailed. After selecting to bowl first, and with R Ashwin sidelined due to back spasms, RR conceded a total of 187/5. Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 runs off 36 balls), Devdutt Padikkal (51 runs off 30 balls), and Shimron Hetmyer (46 runs off 28 balls) were instrumental in their reply of 189/6 in 19.4 overs.
Rajasthan will now focus on RCB, MI, and KKR's final division games and hope to qualify with a superior net run-rate.
Kagiso Rabada caught Jos Buttler in front, causing a major setback for the Royals early in the pursuit. With this third consecutive no-ball, the English opener became the first player in IPL history to record five no-balls in a single season.
Padikkal, who came in at No. 3, was impressive, and together with Jaiswal, they set RR on track with a 73-run partnership that featured some exquisite strokeplay.
However, Punjab would have felt they were in the game after Rajasthan lost Sanju Samson cheaply and were left requiring 97 runs off 51 deliveries. To Punjab's credit, they did well to extend the game into the final over.
Riyan Parag scored 20 runs off 12 deliveries for Rajasthan before Dhruv Jurel (10* off 4) completed the match with four balls remaining.Previously, Punjab's innings consisted of two acts, the first of which featured a legitimate collapse and the second of which featured two powerful partnerships.
It was a must-win game, but Punjab's top order displayed a sense of recklessness by losing four wickets in the first 39 deliveries.
Prabhsimran Singh lobbed one back to Trent Boult in the first over, resulting in another Rajasthan dismissal. Shikhar Dhawan and Atharva Taide scored a combined 36 runs off the next 14 deliveries, but both fell shortly thereafter as PBKS fell to 46/3 in the powerplay.
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Taide (19 runs off 12 balls) mistimed a pull to mid-wicket, and Dhawan (17 runs off 12 balls) was stranded in front by Adam Zampa while attempting a pre-planned sweep shot. Liam Livingstone, who had scored 94 off 48 balls against DC in the previous match, attempted a reckless slog and was clean bowled by Navdeep Saini in the following over.
Sam Curran (49* from 31 balls), Jitesh Sharma (44 from 28 balls), and Shahrukh Khan (41* from 23 balls) led Punjab's strong recovery from 50/4. Curran first added 64 runs with Sharma for the fifth wicket, followed by an unbeaten 73-run stand with Khan.
The triumvirate combined for seven sixes and eleven fours as Rajasthan conceded a staggering 46 runs in the final two overs.Sandeep Sharma was the most expensive bowler with figures of 0/36, while Saini, who had last appeared in RR's season opener, was the most successful with figures of 3/40.
