Rajasthan Royals (RR) were handed their 4th successive loss in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as visitors Punjab Kings (PBKS) snagged the winning status of Match 65 at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on 15th May 2024.
This loss of Sanju Samson and co. meant that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were assured of a top-of-the-table finish in IPL 2024 as they have 19 points and a game left. Rajasthan on the other hand, need to go back to the drawing board and come out all guns blazing against the Knights on 19th May 2024 in their last league stage game of IPL 2024.
Punjab Kings dominated the 1st innings and despite a few hiccups in the 2nd innings, Sam Curran and co. crossed the finishing line in Guwahati.
In this article, we take a look at the top 3 talking points of the RR vs PBKS game at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati:
1. Sam Curran’s all-round prowess
Sam Curran was in supreme form with the bat and with the ball in Match 65 of IPL 2024 and led his troops from the front with example. He bagged 2 wickets with the white-cherry and then scored a match-winning knock of 63* runs in 41 deliveries to make his side win the game.
Curran stood tall and held the fort from one end, even when wickets kept falling from the other end.
2. Rahul Chahar’s commendable bowling performance
Rahul Chahar spun a web and bamboozled the opposition batters as he was practically unplayable. He took 2 crucial wickets that helped Punjab restrict the home side to a modest total of 144 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets.
Chahar took the wickets of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Rovman Powell and made sure that Punjab Kings are in the driver’s seat of this game between Rajasthan and Punjab. The leg-spinner made sure that his bowling adds enormous amounts of pressure on the Rajasthan batters.
3. A partnership forged between Ashwin and Parag
At a time when Rajasthan Royals were staring down at the barrel, Ravichandran Ashwin delivered the goods with the willow. Sent in at number 5 to steady the ship, Ashwin executed his job to perfection.
He scored 28 runs in 19 balls and stitched a 50-run partnership with Riyan Parag. Ravichandran Ashwin smeared Chahar all across the park in his third over and scored 14 runs off the final 3 deliveries.
