Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals (228/4) beat Punjab Kings (222/4) by 6 wickets at Mullanpur Stadium in Chandigarh.
Stop the count. Punjab Kings have been beaten in the Indian Premier League! Playing at home, Punjab Kings had a terrible day out with the ball against Rajasthan Royals, which ended in them losing by 6 wickets at the Mullanpur Stadium on Tuesday.
Rajasthan finishers Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey played their most impactful knocks in the IPL so far, adding 77 runs in a tricky chase of 223 runs. They survived tough middle overs, dug into their crease, and then smashed the fast bowlers in the death overs, handing Rajasthan a clinical win.
It is very important that we reiterate the clinical bit here. Because last season, one of Rajasthan’s biggest downfalls was their lack of finishing. They would remain ahead of the game for the majority of the time, only to lose it in the final two overs.
On Tuesday, it looked like the story would follow the same path. After bowling well through the middle overs, Rajasthan threw it away in the death. Jofra Archer and Brijesh Sharma lost the plot in the final two overs, conceding 43 runs in total. Marcus Stoinis raced to 62 off just 22 balls, taking Punjab to a big total of 222 runs.
Giving away momentum against Punjab Kings has not turned out well for any team in this IPL. The Shreyas Iyer side has latched on to even the slightest of chances and has punished the opposition this season.
But that baggage did not play on the minds of Rajasthan today, as they got out of the blocks in a sensational manner, racing to 84 runs in the powerplay. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who keeps getting better every day, raced to 43 off just 16 balls before miscuing a full toss to Shreyas Iyer at mid-off.
Rajasthan lost steam after the powerplay as spinners Harpreet Brar and Yuzvendra Chahal slowed the game down.
Between the 6th and the 14th over, Chahal took three key wickets of Jaiswal (51 off 27), Dhruv Jurel (16 off 20), and Riyan Parag (29 off 16), all off miscued shots, handing control to Punjab in the game.
And once again, it looked like Rajasthan were going to throw it all away, despite setting the platform well.
But South Africa’s Donovan Ferreira and Impact Sub Shubham Dubey banded together to form an important fifth-wicket partnership, taking the team over the line in Mullanpur on Tuesday.
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Ferreira, who was let go by Delhi Capitals ahead of the season, has been showing signs of a breakthrough year this season. His arsenal of shots was visible today, when he not only dug his claws in to survive the middle overs, but then had the mentality and the physical ability to launch sixes off deliveries that were meant to get him trapped on the boundary line.
Ferreira’s 52* off 26 was well supported by Shubham Dubey, who has been in the IPL circuit for a few years, but has not quite lit it up yet. But against Punjab, Dubey was able to guide yorker-length balls to the boundary and hit two powerful sixes, remaining unbeaten on 31 off just 12 balls.
The duo added 77 off just 32, finishing the job in 19.2 overs, guiding Rajasthan to a strong win against Punjab.
With the win, Rajasthan climbed to the third spot in the league table, with 9 points from 12 games.
Punjab, despite the loss, continue to be at the top of the table, with 13 points from 8 games.
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