All-round Royals clinch victory as PBKS' woes at home continue

Rajasthan Royals put out a collective performance with bat and ball to register a comfortable 50-run victory over the Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. It was the hosts' fifth loss in six games since they moved from the PCA Stadium in Mohali to the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. It leaves Delhi Capitals as the only unbeaten side so far in this IPL 2025.

Where was the game won?

The contrasting PowerPlays

Despite there being only 10 runs between the two sides at this phase, RR had gone wicketless thanks to a solid stand between Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal while PBKS were blown away by the pace bowlers of the Royals. Jofra Archer picked up two wickets in the first over of the chase, including that of the in-form Shreyas Iyer while Sandeep Sharma scalped Stoinis. It resulted in the hosts not having enough batters towards the death when the wickets tumbled.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

PowerPlay - Jaiswal finally tees off

Phase score - 53/0 [RR: 8.83, 4s/6s: 4/3]

Punjab Kings were on the money with the ball exploiting the early swing on offer. Their two left arm quicks - Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen - were tight in their opening over bursts, continuously bowling at a back-of-a-length. The former was also unlucky to not claim the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal, as the short-ball ploy to him almost paid dividends but the ball flew beyond the outstretched arm of Shreyas Iyer. But Jansen erred in his second over as Samson guided a fuller delivery past mid-on. Jaiswal finished the rest of the over with a ramp over short third-man over the ropes, and followed it up with a heave over mid-wicket off a fuller delivery to the stands. The southpaw then hit his third maximum in the PowerPlay with a swat over cow-corner. The Royals openers ended the PowerPlay wicketless, the visitors' first of the season.

Middle overs - Parag, Jaiswal set the stage for a big finish

Phase score - 89/3 [RR: 9.88, 4s/6s: 9/2]

The flow of runs continued after the PowerPlay with Samson clipping Yuzvendra Chahal to the boundary. The Royals skipper then played a superb straight drive down the ground as the visitors continued to find the occasional boundary. It was Lockie Ferguson who broke the partnership as Samson hit a slot ball straight to the throat of mid-off, against the run of play. Jaiswal carried on to score quickly after his skipper's departure, hitting a four and a six off Yuzvendra Chahal, bringing up his 50 in the process, off 40 balls, his slowest in the IPL. He continued to switch gears, getting a hold off Marcus Stoinis with a six down the ground and rounded the 17-run over with a boundary as new batter Riyan Parag chipped in with a boundary as well. Ferguson cleaned up the left-hander in the next over with a slower ball on off-stump which sent the stump cartwheeling. Nitish Rana, fresh off an electric 81 last week, began with two boundaries on either side of the ground. But the left-hander didn't last long as he top-edged a slash to Glenn Maxwell at deep cover.

Death overs - RR sail past 200 against a sloppy PBKS

Phase score - 63/1 [RR: 12.6, 4s/6s: 2/5]

With 142 on the board and plenty of wickets in hand, the Royals had their eyes set on 200. They did breach the 200-run mark but were ably assisted by the Kings who missed a slew of run-out chances and spilled a few catches off both Parag and Shimron Hetmyer. Arshdeep began the 16th over with four slower balls which deceived Parag but turned back to pace-on for the final two balls which the right-hander dispatched to the fence. Chahal spilled Hetmyer at deep fine-leg which went through the fielder's hands and immediately gestured to the lights. The Royals continued to operate in fifth gear as Parag clubbed Jansen for two sixes. Another drop ensued as a skier off the next ball, was put down by the bowler running back. The hosts finally held on to a catch as Hetmyer clubbed a full-toss to the hands of Maxwell. Stoinis conceded 19 runs in the final over with Dhruv Jurel (13 off 5) and Parag taking the Royals to a competitive 205/4.

PUNJAB KINGS

PowerPlay - Royals blow PBKS away in the PowerPlay

Phase score - 43/3 [RR: 8.6, 4s/6s: 5/0]

Jofra Archer began with a peach of a delivery, slightly seaming away to hit the top of Priyansh Arya's off-stump as he departed for a golden duck. But this didn't faze the hosts as Iyer lofted the Englishman over extra-cover for four. He played a carbon copy of the shot two balls later to bring up another boundary. But Iyer followed it up with a reckless hack which castled his stumps to leave the hosts two wickets down in the first over. Things got worse for the hosts as Sandeep Sharma caught Stoinis off his own bowling to bring the Australian's miserable evening to an end. Amidst the constant fall of wickets, Nehal Wadhera was dropped by Jurel at long-off when he was only on four.

Middle overs - Wadhera, Maxwell give Punjab a lifeline

Phase score - 88/2 [RR: 9.77, 4s/6s: 7/4]

Prabhsimran Singh, fell immediately after the PowerPlay with a slog-sweep straight down the throat of mid-wicket. Wadhera finally scored his first boundary off his 11th delivery with a short-arm jab to the fence. That shot got the local boy's confidence going as he followed it up with a reverse-sweep off the wily Wanindu Hasaranga. Maxwell took on Kumar Kartikeya showcasing his wide range of shots while Wadhera smashed the left-arm spinner's googly to the stands in a 19-run over. The partnership continued to pick up steam with 27 runs coming off the 12th and 13th over, bringing up the 100 for PBKS in the process. Wadhera was lethal against Hasaranga and Kartikeya, dancing down the track to the former before dispatching him over the fence and brought up his 50 off just 33 balls. Wadhera successfully took his chances against Theekshana with two boundaries on the onside but his partner, Maxwell, fell against the run of play as his straight batted loft was taken by Jaiswal at long-off.

Death overs - Wicket tumble as RR squeeze PBKS

Phase score - 24/4 [RR: 4.8, 4s/6s: 1/0]

The loss of Maxwell just before the death overs was followed by the departure of Wadhera, in the first ball of the 16th over. The southpaw dragged a googly from well outside-off to the onside and was caught at deep mid-wicket. The young Suryansh Shedge slashed a slower ball to sweeper cover off Sandeep before Jansen holed out to Hetmyer off Theekshana. With Shashank Singh not finding his mojo, the Royals cruised to their second win of the campaign.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 205/4 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 67, Riyan Parag 43; Lockie Ferguson 2-37, Arshdeep Singh 1-35) beat Punjab Kings 155/9 in 20 overs (Nehal Wadhera 61, Glenn Maxwell 30; Jofra Archer 3-25, Sandeep Sharma 2-21) by 50 runs.

What next?

Punjab Kings will stay in Mullanpur to face the struggling Chennai Super Kings on April 8 while Rajasthan will travel to the west of the country and face Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on the following day.