Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], April 28 (ANI): Half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Donovan Ferreira and a fiery knocks from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) end Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) unbeaten run, beating them by six wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Mullanpur on Tuesday.
PBKS stay at the top despite the loss, with 13 points after six wins, a no result and a loss. RR rise to third spot, with six wins and three losses, giving them 12 points. Put to bat first, PBKS reached 222/4 courtesy half-centuries from Marcus Stoinis (62* in 22 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) and Prabhsimran Singh (59 in 44 balls, with six fours and a six). But during the chase, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (43 in 16 balls, with three fours and five sixes) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 in 27 balls, with seven fours and a six) started off with a 51-run stand. A fifth wicket stand of 77 runs between Donovan Ferreira (52* in 26 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and Shubham Dubey (31* in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) sealed the win with four balls left.
During the run-chase of 223 runs, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi started off audaciously by taking down Arshdeep Singh for a six and two fours in the first over. He upped the attack in the next over against Lockie Ferguson, bashing him for a four and two sixes.
A six by Sooryavanshi over deep mid-wicket helped RR reach 50 in 3.1 overs. However, Arshdeep struck the next ball, with skipper Shreyas Iyer taking a pressure catch running from mid-off, removing Sooryavanshi for a 16-ball 43, with three fours and five sixes. RR was 51/1 in 3.2 overs.
Jaiswal continued his attack, ending the Arshdeep’s fourth over with a four, six and a four. In the final over of the power play, Jaiswal and Jurel smacked him for two fours and a six, finishing at 84/1, with Jaiswal (31*) and Dhruv (9*) unbeaten.
Spinners Yuzi Chahal and Harpreet Brar put RR under the squeeze, with the 100-run mark reached in the ninth over’s final ball, a boundary in 17 balls. Jurel lost his wicket to Chahal for 20-ball 16, with a four. RR was reduced to 105/2 in 9.4 overs.
Halfway through, PBKS was 109/2 in 10 overs, with Jaiswal (45*) and skipper Riyan Parag (4*) at the crease.
Jaiswal completed his fifty in 26 balls, with seven fours and a six, but fell to Chahal courtesy a fine catch at long-off from Suryansh Shedge on the next ball. RR was 123/3 in 11.2 overs.
Parag, who was looking in a fluent touch, tried to take down Chahal with a four and six, but the spinner concluded the 14th over by getting him caught by Shedge for a 16-ball 29, with two fours and two sixes. RR was 151/4 in 14 overs.
RR did not remove the foot off the ‘attack’ button as Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey collected three fours off Arshdeep in the next over and Dubey hammered Jansen for a six and a four. The equation came down to 43 in the final four overs.
Lockie managed to contain relatively well, conceding just four by Dubey and a total of eight runs, bringing down the equation to 35 in 18 balls.
However, the next over against Arshdeep was started aggressively by Donovan, who collected a six and a four. Dubey finished the over with a six, bringing down the equation to 18 in two overs and completing the 50-run stand in 26 balls.
RR managed to end the chase easily, with 228/4 in 19.2 overs, with Ferreira (52* in 26 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and Shubham (31* in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) unbeaten after a 77-run stand.
Chahal (3/36) was sensational for PBKS but it was not enough.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder Stoinis put on a clinical display of big-hitting as he helped his team post a formidable total of 222/4 in their 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in both teams’ Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 encounter on Tuesday at New Chandigarh.
With the help of Stoinis’ pinch-hitting, PBKS scored 41 runs in the last two overs to set a challenging target of 223 for the Riyan Parag-led RR.
After being sent in to bat first, the Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS began with an aggressive statement from opener Priyansh Arya. Showing no signs of nerves, Arya dismantled the RR opening attack, racing to 29 runs off just 11 deliveries before Jofra Archer provided the Royals with their first breakthrough in the third over. Priyansh’s whirlwind cameo, consisting of five boundaries and a six, provided PBKS with the early momentum they needed, reaching 37/1 in 3 overs.
During his knock, Arya smacked Burger for 21 runs, including three fours and a six in the second over. PBKS reached the 50 run mark in 4.5 overs as Cooper Connolly and Prabhsimran joined forces. At the end of six overs, PBKS was 65/1, with Prabhsimran (25*) and Connolly (6*) unbeaten.
Connolly kept the momentum going, smashing 30 off 14 deliveries, but it was Prabhsimran Singh who anchored the middle phase. Connolly collected two sixes against Yash Raj Punia and a four and six against Jadeja, but Yash got him for a 14-ball 30, with two fours and three sixes. PBKS was 96/2 in 8.2 overs.
Halfway through their innings, PBKS was 107/2, with Prabhsimran (38*) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (5*) out there.
Prabhsimran played a composed yet aggressive knock of 59 off 44 balls, reaching his fifty in 35 balls, ensuring the scoreboard kept ticking even as the Royals’ spinners tried to apply the brakes. In 14th over, he perished to Yash, reducing PBKS to 144/3.
While captain Iyer contributed with a 27-ball 30-run innings, before falling to Burger, it was Stoinis who was the undisputed star of the evening, turning what looked like a competitive score into a mammoth one. Coming in late, the Australian all-rounder bludgeoned an unbeaten 62 off just 22 balls, striking at a massive 281.82. In his innings, he hit six maximums and four boundaries, helping PBKS to 222/4 in 20 overs, helping PBKS reach a competitive score by smashing Brijesh for three fours and two sixes.
It was a tough outing for the Rajasthan Royals’ bowling unit. While Yash Raj Punja was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/41, taking the crucial wickets of Connolly and Prabhsimran, the rest of the attack struggled under the onslaught.
Jofra Archer (1/40 in 4 overs) and Nandre Burger picked up a wicket each but proved expensive, with Burger conceding 59 runs in his four overs. The most significant damage occurred in the death overs, as Punjab added over 60 runs in the final four overs of the innings.
Brief Scores: PBKS: 222/4 (Marcus Stoinis 62*, Prabhsimran Singh 59, Yash Raj Punia 2/41) lost to RR: 228/4 in 19.4 overs (Donovan Ferreira 52*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 51, Yuzi Chahal 3/36). (ANI)
