Rajasthan Royals Vs Punjab Kings Match Scorecard

Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh made an excellent start for PBKS but quickly lost two wickets early on in the match.

Dhruv Jurel attempted to keep Royal Rangers in contention, but eventually lost to Marco Jansen.

Nehal Wadhera scored her half-century off 37 deliveries and combined with Shashank Singh (59 off 51 balls) and Azmatullah Omarzai’s quick 21 off 9 balls to lift PBKS to a competitive total, as highlighted in the Rajasthan Royals Vs Punjab Kings Match Scorecard.

Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings

Rajasthan Royals (also known as Kings XI Punjab) have emerged victorious 17 times out of 30 meetings between these teams in IPL history, while Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) have prevailed 13 times.

Recently they met again at Sharjah with Rajasthan Royals winning by four wickets after Sanju Samson hit an unbeaten 85 off 42 balls with 16 boundaries and two sixes in 42 balls, earning Player of the Match honors; Steven Smith and Rahul Tewatia made half-centuries to score 226/6 in their chase of 226/6 target.

PBKS was left with an even tougher challenge as they quickly found themselves reduced to 34/3 after four overs of play, having started well but losing two key batsmen, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh to Tushar within quick succession before Mitchell Owen struck again with his DRS review that saw Arya depart without scoring at all.

Nehal Wadhera then led an aggressive innings rebuild with captain Shreyas Iyer. Together they put on an impressive 67-run partnership from just 44 balls that gave PBKS some momentum; unfortunately it wasn’t enough as Azmatullah Omarzai removed Iyer and Riyan Parag to leave them at 159/5 after 16 overs; Dhruv Jurel attempted to bring back RR but fell short despite scoring 53 runs off 31 balls; Harpreet Brar took one more key wicket reducing PBKS down to 120/6 in 18 overs!

Head-to-Head Record

Since 2008, these two teams have met 30 times in the Indian Premier League since 2008 with Royal Challengers winning 17 and PBKS 12 times respectively.

Most recently in IPL 2019 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium where Graeme Smith hit an unbeaten 77 off 44 balls with 16 boundaries and two sixes scored by himself while Amit Singh contributed with three wickets for nine runs taken with his ball.

The Royals have also enjoyed great success at home this season, winning five of seven matches with Jofra Archer and Maheesh Theekshana leading their bowling unit.

However, without injured spinner Sandeep Sharma and opener Nitish Rana the team has struggled but left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger as well as young wicketkeeper Lhuan-dre Pretorius have provided solid replacements.

Even so, Royals have managed to remain competitive in the table. Their hopes for top two finish will only increase when they face Delhi Capitals next time around.

Punjab Kings have shown improvement since a slow start to their campaign and look set to qualify for playoffs shortly, so they will look to maintain their current form and ensure they qualify.

PBKS’ previous match against KKR saw them post an impressive total of 209/6 at New Chandigarh. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag were particularly instrumental in propelling them to victory; Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ravi Bopara also displayed notable talent with the bat.

Ravi Bopara and Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s bowlers dominated early, restricting KKR to just 155/6 in their first innings.

Royal Bengal Cricket Society struggled in their run chase due to slow starts from some batsmen but youngster Harpreet Brar kept them competitive by bowling an impressive spell of 3-22 which claimed key wickets of Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to prevent collapse in middle overs; their star batsman Sanju Samson failed to make an impactful contribution before being dismissed after only 20 runs!

Match Summary

Punjab Kings emerged victorious from an exciting Indian Premier League match featuring two sides with vastly differing fortunes by just 10 runs in an exciting encounter at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Rajasthan Royals openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had superb batting efforts, yet their batsmen faltered during run chase, handing victory to Punjab Kings at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi shared an opening stand of 69 in the first innings, but once Sooryavanshi was out wickets were lost at regular intervals – leaving keeper-battler Azmatullah Omarzai the difficult task of chasing down 219 runs for victory – however his bat faltered as he struggled for only 20 runs at bat before succumbing to Harpreet Brar’s bowling magic to claim three crucial scalps including Suryavanshi and Jaiswal to derail RR momentum and ensure victory was secured.

RR remains eighth on the table but is far from out of contention. Jofra Archer’s return has provided much-needed spark in their batting side, while youngsters like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Riyan Parag are showing promise as middle order batsmen.

Unfortunately, their bowling unit has yet to find its groove with injuries to both Sandeep Sharma and Jofra Archer hampering them significantly.

Captain Ponting should take heart in how his side has battled back late in the season and how young players such as Priyansh Arya have performed, hitting seven sixes during powerplay this year alone. With Mitchell Owen as an unlikely breakout star of BBL 2018, another overseas player may also arrive, although Arya may keep his place for now.

Prediction

On Sunday at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Punjab Kings will likely emerge victorious as favourites given their superior records and results against Rajasthan Royals (RR). They’ve won all home matches thus far while their opponent have struggled against other venues.

Though struggling, RR still have the chance to revive their playoff hopes with a win here. Doing so would require producing an outstanding performance on the field – particularly at the top of their order where Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya have been key figures, especially during powerplay innings where their combined 534 runs are the highest total in any phase and their strike rate of 189 is the best ever seen by any pair this season.

As they will have to do without Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma due to injuries, but will be buoyed by captain Sanju Samson’s return, they should still do well enough in this competition.

Under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, PBKS have had one of their finest IPL campaigns ever and look set for a top four finish. After 11 games they sit third with 15 points from 11 wins – needing just one more win to seal their destiny in top four finish.

Against RR, they will look to avenge their surprise loss at New Chandigarh and produce an impressive field performance. Harpreet Brar’s deft spin will play an essential part of that strategy, having taken three wickets during their previous matchup.

Forecasted conditions for this match call for sunny conditions with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius, making the day-time heat an additional challenge to player fitness levels. Dew will likely not play an impactful role, making batting first the preferable strategy for both sides.