In a high-octane match between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 8 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), it was Punjab Kings who emerged victorious by a margin of five runs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
PBKS won the toss and elected to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan's unbeaten 85 and Prabhsimran Singh's maiden fifty powered PBKS to a formidable total of 198 runs in 20 overs. In response, RR started their chase with a strange batting line-up, as Ravichandran Ashwin came in to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Jaiswal started with an impressive six over square leg, but Ashwin fell soon after, courtesy of Arshdeep Singh's bowling. Buttler then came in to bat and started capitalising on the drop catch by Sam Curran with an amazing boundary over mid-wicket.
However, RR lost their momentum after Nathan Ellis caught and bowled Buttler for 19. Ellis struck again in the 11th over, dismissing skipper Sanju Samson for 42, reducing RR to 91-4.
Home favourite Riyan Parag infused life into the game with a six off Rahul Chahar into the mid-wicket in the 12th over, but Ellis claimed his third wicket in the 15th over, dismissing Parag for 20 off 12.
In the same over, Ellis cleaned up Devdutt Padikkal on a length ball, claiming his fourth and making the task tougher for the Royals.
Despite efforts from Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel, RR fell short by five runs. Sam Curran held his nerves and gave away just seven runs off the last over, as PBKS secured their second win of the season.
With this win, PBKS move to the second spot in the IPL 2023 points table, while RR remain at the seventh spot.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 197/4 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 86 not out, Prabhsimran Singh 60; Jason Holder 2-29) beat Rajasthan Royals 192/7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 42, Shimron Hetmyer 36; Nathan Ellis 4-30, Arshdeep Singh 2-47) by 5 runs