Punjab Kings pulled off an impressive comeback win to beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets in the 65th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on Wednesday, May 15. The stand-in skipper Sam Curran shone with both bat and ball in a low-score clash at Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium to give Punjab a consolation win.
Having already secured a playoff spot, Sanju Samson’s Royals missed out on a chance to go top of the points table after suffering their fourth straight loss of the season. Already knocked out from the playoff race, Punjab Kings moved up to ninth place in the points table with their fifth win in the IPL 2024.
Riyan Parag’s 48 off 34 balls helped Rajasthan Royals post a 144 total after electing to bat first. Sam Curran claimed two big wickets and then scored an unbeaten 63* off just 41 balls to lead Punjab to a thumping win with five wickets and seven balls remaining.
It was an impressive all-round performance from the bottom-placed team who are looking to finish as high as possible with one more game to go this season. Nathan Ellis made his first appearance of the season replacing Liam Livingstone and took a wicket for 24.
Sam Curran, Rahul Chahar and Harshal Patel claimed two wickets each with economically greedy spells in the first IPL 2024 game at Guwahati’s fresh surface which usually favours batters in white-ball cricket.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore made his IPL debut but was not able to impress after opening an innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Royals batters struggled for big shorts with just two sixes being recorded in their innings. Parag top-scored with 48 off 34 balls at his home ground but failed to get any support from his teammates.
Chasing a low-score total, Punjab Kings struggled for a start once again. Trent Boult continued his first-over-wicket affair by removing Prabhsimran Singh early and then in-form pacer Avesh Khan stunned the away team with two big wickets of Rilee Rossouw and Shashank Singh in the fifth over.
However, Punjab Kings made a brilliant comeback with Curran and Jitesh Sharma adding 63 runs for the fifth wicket which proved a difference in Guwahati. Jitesh scored 22 off 20 balls but was not able to finish the game for Punjab Kings.
Curran and Ahustosh Sharma avoided a late scare to finish the game in the penultimate over to power Punjab Kings to a deserving win. Curran bagged the Player of the Match award for his two for 24 and brilliant match-winning knock of 63* off 41 balls.
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (substituted by Donovan Ferreira), Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Punjab Kings Playing XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran (c), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh (substituted by Ashutosh Sharma).