Punjab Kings had gone the entire season unbeaten. On Tuesday night in New Chandigarh, that record came to an end. Rajasthan Royals chased down 223 with four balls to spare, winning by six wickets in a match that swung back and forth before Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey settled it with a brutal 77-run partnership off just 32 balls for the fifth wicket. RR move to third place on the points table. PBKS remain top, but their aura of invincibility is gone.
Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal Give Rajasthan Royals the Perfect Platform
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did what Sooryavanshi does. He smashed 43 off 16 balls, taking Arshdeep Singh for six, four and four in the opening over alone before Lockie Ferguson was whipped over deep midwicket and then driven straight for two more sixes. RR crossed 50 in just 19 balls before Arshdeep’s around-the-wicket angle finally did the job, Sooryavanshi slicing to Shreyas Iyer at mid-off.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, quiet while his partner was blazing, immediately shifted gears. He raced to his fifty off 26 balls, giving RR the momentum they needed through the powerplay and into the middle overs. RR were 84 for 1 after six overs and firmly in control of the chase before Yuzvendra Chahal pegged them back, removing Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag in quick succession to finish with 3 for 36 and drag PBKS back into the contest.
Ferreira and Dubey Kill the Game
With 72 needed off 36 balls and the required rate sitting at exactly 12, RR looked vulnerable. That is when Ferreira and Dubey took over completely. The PBKS spinners had bowled tightly, conceding just 61 off 48 balls through the middle, but once they were done, the fast bowlers had nowhere to hide. Arshdeep, so disciplined in his opening two overs, went for 31 in his final two. Ferguson was smoked for 16 in the 19th over. Dubey crashed Marco Jansen for a four and six in the 16th to shift the momentum decisively. Ferreira finished it in style, hitting the winning runs with a six over long-on to bring up his second IPL fifty.
The PBKS fast bowling attack leaked 166 runs off just 68 balls across the innings, an alarming trend that has now begun to look like a structural weakness rather than a one-off issue.
Earlier, PBKS had posted 222 for 4 on the back of Prabhsimran Singh’s 59 and a late assault from Marcus Stoinis, who arrived with minimal game time this season but made an immediate impact. He smashed an unbeaten 62 off just 22 balls, hitting Brijesh Sharma for 24 in the final over alone to push PBKS past 220. Jofra Archer and the RR spinners had kept things in check through the middle, with Yash Raj Punja removing Cooper Connolly and Jadeja applying pressure from the other end.
In the end, though, this was RR’s night. Ferreira and Dubey made sure of that.
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