Punjab defeat Rajasthan to edge closer to a playoff spot

A clinical performance from Punjab Kings saw them defeat Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur to edge closer to a playoff spot. PBKS posted a daunting 219 on the board following half-centuries from Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh. Even though RR's openers made a stunning start, Harpreet Brar's spell (3-22) stopped them in their tracks as the home side left it too late by the time they recovered. Once again, the middle overs proved to be RR's undoing as they couldn't capitalise on the start provided by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi. RR have lost 38 wickets in this phase across the IPL, the most amongst all the franchises. PBKS were excellent in that phase with Wadhera and Shreyas Iyer doing the bulk of the damage which set themselves up for a strong finish later. The first ball after resumption in IPL 2025 was hit for a boundary as Priyansh Arya, who faced the last ball before the suspension, guided one bowled down leg for a four. Prabhsimran Singh, who has been in sizzling form, got going immediately but Arya chipped one in tame fashion to depart in just the second over. Kwena Maphaka, coming in place of Jofra Archer, was welcomed to the attack with a four and a six in the first over but the young pacer redeemed himself when Mitchell Owen was sent packing for a duck on his IPL debut. Royals then put themselves on top with another wicket off the very next ball when Tushar Deshpande struck again, this time with an excellent review to send Prabhsimran back to the pavilion. Shreyas, walking out at No.5, joined forces with Wadhera to revive PBKS with a flurry of boundaries. It was boundaries galore at the death for PBKS despite losing Wadhera early during this phase after his 36-ball 70. Shashank took over at this point as he smashed Fazalhaq Farooqi for 18 in an over. At the other end, Azmatullah took just two balls for a sighter before taking on Maphaka for a couple of boundaries and a six. Madhwal then executed a few wide yorkers to perfection in a very good penultimate over but Shashank made up with some vital runs in the final over to bring up a fifty, and guide his side to almost 220. 66 from 30 balls with Shimron Hetmyer and a well-set Jurel was certainly not out of reach for the Royals. The two batters hit a boundary each in the 16th over and a wide that went for a boundary in the following over kept them in the hunt. But the next two overs saw Royals score only 19 runs with the hosts also losing Hetmyer. That brought the equation down to 22 off the last over with RR's hopes resting primarily on half-centurion Jurel. Jansen, tasked with the responsibility to close out the game, got the job done in the first three deliveries in which he conceded only two runs before picking up the key wicket of Jurel. Jansen also managed to add another wicket to his tally when Hasaranga got a thick outside-edge before Maphaka reduced the margin of defeat with back-to-back boundaries.