Punjab Kings’ Dominating Victory as Royals Suffer Fourth Consecutive Loss in IPL 2024
Sam Curran’s heroics led Punjab Kings to a thrilling victory against Rajasthan Royals in an electrifying match of IPL 2024.
After leading his team to victory with an undefeated 63, the PBKS interim captain shone with 2 for 24.
Rajasthan Royals 144 for 9 (Parag 48, Ashwin 28, Curran 2-24, Chahar 2-26, Harshal 2-28) were defeated by Punjab Kings 145 for 5 (Curran 63*, Avesh 2-28, Chahal 2-31) by five wickets.
In T20 cricket, form can shift rapidly, and in an IPL competition like this, the constant action can also swiftly swing the other way. After Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals (RR) became the second team in 2018 IPL to demonstrate that. However, in contrast to RCB, who have won five straight games, RR has now dropped four straight after winning the same number of games in a row, hurting their hopes of finishing in the top two.
The most recent defeat occurred in Guwahati, where Sam Curran and the other bowlers for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) initially held RR to 144. With two wickets taken for 24, Curran spearheaded PBKS’s offensive at the bat, scoring an undefeated sixty-three to finish the chase with seven balls and five wickets remaining. That came after PBKS had lost four wickets in eight overs, at 48.
Local youngster Riyan Parag’s day was marred by Curran’s valiant efforts; he scored 48, precisely one-third of RR’s total.
In the opening match of this IPL at Barsapara Stadium, Sanju Samson chose to bat. The game was not progressing in either direction after four overs, with RR on 31 for 1. After Yashasvi Jaiswal hit the first ball of the day through cover for four, Curran made him chop off the fourth ball of the day.
Samson struck three boundaries in his first eight deliveries, including a full-faced blow to Arshdeep Singh. Conversely, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who replaced Jos Buttler, had gotten off to a rather calm start.
For the fifth over, Curran then brought Nathan Ellis on. Ellis attempted to test the batters by bowling cutters on a slow pitch where the ball appeared to stop, as well as hitting some on a hard length. At that point, RR began to slow down. Only 11 runs were scored in the following 3.2 overs, and both Samson and Kohler-Cadmore were out for 18.
Also Read: Rajasthan Royals Triumph In Thrilling 2008 IPL Final Against CSK
In three overs, PBKS bowled ten dot balls, beginning with the sixth over. Harshal Patel and Ellis made excellent use of the variations, but Rahul Chahar found turn. Curran gave left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar his ninth over with Parag and R Ashwin, two right-hand hitters, at the crease. However, Ashwin scored ten off the over with a stuttering boundary.
After 11 overs, with just 68 runs on the board, Ashwin launched a counterattack. After reverse-sweeping and lofting Chahar over the covers for four, he slogged him over midwicket for six. But after an exciting 28 from 19 balls, Arshdeep put an end to Ashwin’s celebration by having him caught at deep point in the next over.
However, Parag did not give up even when RR was down 102 for 6 in the middle of the 15th over. By then, Chahar had Rovman Powell caught and bowled for four, while Curran had already dismissed Dhruv Jurel for a duck. After RR reached 113 in the first over of the death overs (17–20), Parag sliced and body-slapped Arshdeep for two straight fours.
PBKS kept Parag from scoring during the whole 19th over. As the Purple Cap turned the tables once more on the 20th, Harshal trapped Parag for 48 with his signature dipping, slow full ball. Harshal ended the day with 22 wickets, two ahead of Jasprit Bumrah. The sixth After RR slowed down the chase, Jitesh Sharma joined Curran at the crease.
After losing Prabhsimran Singh early on, Trent Boult struck for the IPL record 28th time in the opening over thanks to a counterattack by Rillee Rossouw. However, after five overs, RR had PBKS at 37 for 3. PBKS was reeling at 48 for 4 when Yuzvendra Chahal had Jonny Bairstow caught at long-on for a scratchy 14 off 22.
However, Jitesh and Curran prevented RR from winning the game just yet. Before Curran was able to score a fortunate four from the bottom edge off Chahal, Jitesh pulled his second ball for six. Curran swatted Ashwin to deep extra cover, flicking Boult behind square, and slapping Chahal wide of long-on as they continued to rattle off singles and occasionally found the boundary in successive overs.
With six overs remaining, Jitesh and Curran both hit sixes off Ashwin, raising the needed rate to 9.33 an over. However, Jitesh was dismissed by Chahal in the subsequent over, and the match was soon ended when PBKS substituted Ashutosh Sharma with an Impact player.
After Ashutosh outran Avesh for four, Curran and Ashutosh hit three sixes in five balls to even the game and quickly secure the win.
Rain Threatens RCB vs CSK Showdown
The highly anticipated showdown between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium faces a potential washout due to continuous rainfall in Bengaluru. The weather forecast predicts “showers and a thunderstorm” from Friday, May 17 to Tuesday, May 21, putting the match in jeopardy. In the event of a washout, both teams will receive one point each, impacting RCB’s chances of advancing in IPL 2024 while securing CSK’s spot in the playoffs.
According to Accuweather, the stadium will experience 99% cloud cover with intermittent showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and a 74% chance of rain in the evening, with temperatures ranging from 30-34 degrees Celsius. Nighttime will see 100% cloud cover, a 62% chance of rain, potential thunderstorms, and temperatures dropping to 21-22 degrees Celsius.
Continuous rainfall raises concerns about a full game, as per IPL playing conditions, which stipulate that the shortest match possible is five overs, starting no later than 10:56 PM.
In other IPL 2024 news, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals have secured playoff berths, leaving five teams vying for the remaining spots. CSK, SunRisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, RCB, and Lucknow Super Giants are competing for the top four positions.
DC completed their league matches with a win against LSG, accumulating 14 points from 14 games. Other contenders have one match remaining, except for SRH, potentially leading to net run-rates determining the final playoff spot.
The RCB vs CSK match is pivotal, with fans and experts considering it a virtual knockout, shaping the playoff landscape significantly.
