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Punjab Kings (PBKS) climbed up one spot from the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 points table with a five-wicket win over Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. After taking two crucial wickets, Sam Curran scored an unbeaten half-century to help PBKS chase down the target of 145 with seven balls to spare.
Buttler’s replacement struggles
After Samson won the toss and opted to bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal got bowled by Curran in the first over. Tom Kohler-Cadmore on his IPL debut hit Curran for the first six of the innings. However, Kohler-Cadmore struggled to find boundaries or rotate strike in powerplay overs. After six overs, RR were 38/1. Nathan Ellis' dismissed Samson in the seventh over. He scored 18 runs from 15 balls. Rahul Chahar ended Kohler-Cadmore's stay at the crease. The opener scored just 18 runs from 23 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin got a promotion up the order. At the halfway stage, RR were 58/3.
Parag runs out of partners
Ashwin went after Chahar and hit a six followed by two fours. Arshdeep Singh came back into the attack and dismissed Ashwin who contributed with a 19-ball 28 cameo. Dhruv Jurel failed to make a mark and got out for a golden duck to Curran. Riyan Parag kept running out of partners. Rovman Powell was dismissed caught and bowled by Chahar. Parag pushed the scoring rate with back-to-back boundaries off Arshdeep. His catch was dropped in the same over as well. Impact player Donovan Ferreira departed for a single-digit score to Harshal Patel. In the penultimate over, Trent Boult hit two fours. Parag missed his half-century and got out lbw for a 34-ball 48 by Patel. Boult was run out off the last ball as RR managed to post 144/9.
Early wickets for Royals
Boult was impressive with the new ball again and got the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh in the first over. Rilee Rossouw scored a few boundaries to use the fielding restrictions. Avesh Khan pushed PBKS on the back foot with a double blow. Rossouw departed for a 13-ball 22. He followed it up with the wicket of Shashank Singh for a two-ball duck. After powerplay overs, PBKS were 39/3. Yuzvendra Chahal was impressive in his first over and ended Jonny Bairstow's struggle at the crease. Bairstow scored 14 runs from 22 balls. Jitesh Sharma released pressure with a six off Ravichandran Ashwin.
Curran’s captain’s knock
Jitesh and Curran stitched a crucial partnership in the middle overs to keep PBKS in the hunt. Ashwin's last over turned out to be expensive as Curran and Jitesh hit one six each. Chahal came back into the attack to dismiss Jitesh who scored 22 runs from 20 balls. Impact player Ashutosh Sharma walked out to bat. Curran reached his half-century from 38 balls in the 18th over. Curran hit Sandeep Sharma for a six as well. In the penultimate over, Curran and Ashutosh hit a six each and RR got over the line with seven balls to spare. Curran scored 63 runs from 41 balls including five fours and three sixes.
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