IPL 2023 RR vs PBKS: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal keep Royals’ hope alive for playoffs

Earlier, RR opted to bowl first against which the Punjab Super Kings set a score of 188 to chase.

Punjab Super Kings Innings:

Batting first, the PBKS openers Prabhsimran Singh (2) and skipper Shikhar Dhawan (17) could not give the momentum the squad needed.

While Sing was departed by Trent Boult in the first over, Adam Zampa dismissed Dhawan in the 6th over. Prior to this, Navdeep Saini departed Atharva Taide (19) in the 4th over.

Following this, the batting order collapsed as Saini further took two wickets of Liam Livingstone (9) and Jitesh Sharma (44) in the 7th and 14th over.

However, reliable Sam Curran (49*) made sure the PBKS sets a good score against the Royals and remained unbeaten till last. With him, Shahrukh Khan (41*) too remained unbeaten till last. Both players dominated completely during the last two overs and contributed a crucial partnership of 73 runs. By the end of 20 overs, PBKS managed to put 187 runs on score card after losing 5 wickets.

For RR, Navdeep Saini took 3 wickets, while, Trent Boult and Adam Zampa picked one wicket each.

RR Innings:

Chasing a target of 188 runs in Dharamshala, and that too when its a do or die match ahead of IPL playoffs, the openers had only one thing in mind — how to win this match.

Entering the field with a clear vision on wining the match, RR openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler appeared calm and composed. However, in the second over, Kagiso Rabada picked up the wicket of Buttler (0), who couldn’t score a single run.

Understanding the situation, both Yashasvi Jaiswal (50) and Devdutt Padikkal (51) stayed on the pitch and set up a good stable partnership. Both of them completed their individual half centuries.

However, PBKS’ bowler Arshdeep Singh sent Devdutt Padikkal to the pavilion in the 10th over. Following this, spinner Rahul Chahar picked skipper Sanju Samson’s wicket in the 11th over who scored only 2 runs.

PBKS’s Nathan Ellis was the one bowler who made sure Yashasvi Jaiswal was sent to pavilion and he picked Jaiswal’s wicket in the 15th over.

When things were going on a good flow, RR was again stuck as they lost Riyan Parag to Kagiso Rabada in the 18th over. Since power hitter Shimron Hetmyer was on the pitch, so RR looked a bit relaxed.

However, in the second last bowl of the 19th over, Sam Curran took Shimron Hetmyer’s wicket who had scored 46 runs in 28 balls. Despite facing difficulties , Royals won the match by 4 wickets after scoring 189 runs with 2 balls remaining.

IPL playoff scenario now:

Looking at the IPL Points table now, Royals have played all their league matches and have 14 points in total, equalising with teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. Also, teams like Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants have 15 points. Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans have already qualified for playoffs with 19 points and have one more match left to play. 

But the most important factor is all these teams have one more match left, so their chances to qualify for playoffs is more. Though, in uncertain conditions, Royals can qualify. For PBKS, their journey in the series is over.