Cricket Highlights, 06 April: IPL 2023 (Match 8) – Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals

Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals (Match 8) – Highlights

The match between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals finished with a great climax yesterday. Rajasthan Royals came very close to winning coming down to reply for 197 runs. In the end, Shikhar Dhawan’s team Punjab Kings left the field with a 5-run victory in a breathtaking match. 

After losing the toss and batting first, the Kings collected a big score of 197 runs after losing 4 wickets in this match held at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The Royals’ innings stopped at 192 runs after losing 7 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. 

With this, the Kings secured their second consecutive victory in IPL 2023. They defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous match by the DLS method. Moreover, the Kings won two consecutive matches for the first time since 2021. Both Kings’ openers got off to a flying start. They made a partnership of 90 runs in just 9.4 overs. Prabhsimran Singh returned to the dressing room after playing a stormy innings of 60 runs from 34 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. 

Dhawan remained unbeaten playing a big innings of 86 runs off 56 balls. He hit 3 sixes with 9 boundaries. Bhanuka Rajapaksa left the field injured after scoring only 1 run. Jitesh Sharma made 27 runs off 16 balls for the team. However, in the controlled bowling of the bowlers of the Royals, the scoring rate slowed down a bit in the end.Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raza could not do much in this match.

Although he scored 13 runs in the last match, he was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin and left the field after scoring only 1 run in this match. Shahrukh Khan scored 11 runs. In the end, after losing 4 wickets, the Kings’ innings stopped at 197 runs. 

For the Royals, Jason Holder picked up the  maximum number of 2 wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal scalped 1 wicket each. Chasing a big target, the Royals’ innings stopped at 192 runs after losing 7 wickets. Ashwin came down to open the innings. But after playing 4 balls he went back to the dressing room without making any runs.

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 11 runs. Jos Buttler was out for just 19 runs.But captain Sanju Samson was single-handedly driving the team forward. He scored the highest 42 runs off 25 balls for the team. He hit 1-six with 5 boundaries. Devdutt Padikkal scored 21 runs off 26 balls. On the other hand, Riyan Parag made 20 runs off 12 balls.

The Royals lost 6 wickets to score 124 runs coming down to chase the target. They needed 69 runs in the last 4 overs. It seemed then that Shikhar Dhawan’s team was going to win by a big margin. However, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel took the match in an exciting position building up a partnership of 62 runs from 27 on the seventh wicket. 

Hetmyer was dismissed for 36 off 18 balls. There were 1 four and 3 sixes. Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten innings of 32 runs off 15 balls was played with 3 fours and 2 sixes, which gave the Royals a chance to win. But in the last over, the Royals could not reach the target of victory due to the excellent bowling efforts of Sam Curran. 

Nathan Ellis played a key role in the team’s victory for the Kings. He took the highest number of 4 wickets with 30 runs in 4 overs. He was also selected as the player of the match. Besides, Arshdeep Singh took 2 wickets.  Punjab Kings are second in the points table with 4 points. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals won the first match but lost this match and are now in the 4th position in the points table.

Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Scoreboard

Punjab Kings – 197/4 (20.0)

Rajasthan Royals – 192/7 (20.0)

Result – Punjab Kings won by 5 runs

Player of the match – Nathan Ellis

Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Playing XIs