In match number 40, something unexpected happened and showed that in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL), no team is invincible, as Punjab Kings (PBKS), who were on a roll, created a hurdle in this match against Rajasthan Royals (RR). RR beat PBKS by 6 wickets at the Maharaja Yadvendra Singh PCA Stadium, New Chandigarh.
Riyan Parag won the toss and decided to bowl first. It was a surprise change, with in-form Ravi Bishnoi dropped and Shimron Hetmyer also dropped, with Yashraj Punja and Dasun Shanaka getting a chance. PBKS also made a few changes as they brought in Suryansh Shedge in place of the potentially injured Shashank Singh and Lockie Ferguson in place of Xavier Bartlett.
Marcus Stoinis vs RR massacre
After being invited to bat first, the opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya performed strongly from the very first over. The latter was aggressive today, scoring an impressive 29 runs off 11 balls and the former scored another half-century as he was out on 59 runs.
Yashraj Punja was the best bowler from Riyan Parag’s side, picking up two wickets and also restricted some runs in the middle overs as Shreyas Iyer could not cause much trouble, but Marcus Stoinis’ explosive 66 off 22 balls helped Punjab cross the 200-run mark as they finished at 222/4.
Donovan Ferreira hands PBKS its first defeat
Chasing two flamboyant openers in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi as they started the carnage, the latter scored at a strike rate of 250 and scored 43 runs in 16 balls, giving Riyan Parag’s team the start they needed as they scored 50 runs in three overs.
Jaiswal also played a brilliant inning of 51 runs in 27 balls and Riyan Parag’s quickfire 29 runs in 16 balls kept the flow of runs going, but three wickets from Yuzvendra Chahal took the Kings back for some time.
Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey came through in the midst of PBKS’s win, with the two making a partnership of 75 runs off 35 balls, and the former finished the game with an unbeaten score of 52 runs, and Dubey scored 31 runs off 12 balls, as RR collected their 2 points.
The way he played he took it away from PBKS- Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag was happy after the team’s performance and credited Donovan and Shubham for their exceptional innings and snatching the game from the hands of the Kings.
Riyan Parag said, “What we discussed before the tournament as a team, we achieved in this game. We could have restricted them to a little less, but the batsmen took up the slack. We could have bowled a few overs better here, the batsmen could have bowled a few overs better. But the aspiration is to perform well till 40 overs.”
“The concerns were there from everyone’s side, we have confidence in the players, all the concerns are from outside and not from our side. The plan was to keep wickets in hand but not go too far behind the run-rate, the tough part was to maintain the pace, we fell behind a bit but picked it up again. The way they played, Don (Shubham Dubey) and Don (Donovan Ferreira) took it away from PBKS. The way they batted was commendable.”
Also read: No MS Dhoni! Marcus Stoinis has the best strike rate in the 20th over of an IPL match.