Who won yesterday's IPL match? Shikhar Dhawan-less Punjab Kings (PBKS) took on Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday in the IPL 2024. (Scorecard | Match Report | As It Happened)
Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first on a wicket that assisted the pacers as well as the batters.
However, PBKS batters did not get going as Keshav Maharaj and co ran through the top and middle-order as RR bowlers restricted the home team.
Some big hitting from Jitesh Sharma (29) and Ashutosh Sharma (31) lower down the order enabled PBKS to post a decent 147/8 in their 20 overs.
Maharaj (2/23) and Avesh Khan (2/34) were the pick of the RR bowlers with the rest taking one each.
PBKS: 147 for 8 in 20 overs (Ashutosh Sharma 31; Keshav Maharaj 2/23).
In reply, RR batters started well with Yashasvi Jaiswal coming on as an impact sub. His contribution of 39 was invaluable for the visiting team as they scored freely.
However, PBKS bowlers struck post the 9th over of the RR innings to get themselves back into the game.
With 20 runs required of the last two overs, Curran went for eight runs in the second-last over but took the wicket of Maharaj.
Arshdeep Singh's final over was the turning point as Shimron Hetmyer's fireworks took the game away from the home team as RR won by three wickets.
Hetmyer's final over heroics earned him the Player of the Match award as well.
Brief Scores:
PBKS: 147 for 8 in 20 overs (Ashutosh Sharma 31; Keshav Maharaj 2/23) lost by three wickets to RR: 152 for 7 in 19.5 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 39; Shimron Hetmyer 27; Kagiso Rabada 2/18).
