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Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals defeated Shreyas Iyer's Punjab Kings by 50 runs in match 18 of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which was being played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, on April 5 (Saturday). RR put an end to PBKS' winning run. They batting first posted 205/4 with the help of Yashasvi Jaiswal's fifty. They later restricted PBKS on 155 and handed them their first loss
RR Post 205/4
During a timely comeback to form, rising India star Yashasvi Jaiswal let his bat do the talking. He hammered a stroke-filled 67 to lead Rajasthan Royals to a dominant 205 for four over Punjab Kings. Just as attention was turning away from the field, the 23-year-old, who had suffered a slump in the first three games with scores of 1, 29, and 4, burst back into form with a fluid fifty off 44 balls (3x4, 5x6). His abrupt relocation to Goa had drawn criticism and sparked rumors of a falling out with Mumbai cricket. After Shreyas Iyer chose to bowl, Jaiswal and captain Sanju Samson (38 off 26 balls) silenced the crowd around him and gave RR their best start of the season with an opening partnership of 89.
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As RR lost three wickets in the 11–15 overs phase, Lockie Ferguson removed both Samson and Jaiswal against the flow of play in the middle overs. Nitish Rana (12) was also dismissed cheaply. After an exciting start, Shimron Hetmyer, who is deadly (20 off 12 balls), was also unable to get going. To push the Royals over the 200-mark for the first time at this location, Riyan Parag (43 not out off 25 balls) delivered the late fireworks with three sixes and as many fours. Following their season-best opening stand, the Royals hammered 55 runs in the next three overs, with 20 more runs scored in the final seven balls by Parag and Dhruv Jurel (13 not out off 5).
RR hand PBKS their first loss
Punjab Kings did not get the start they wanted in the chase as they lost the wicket of Priyansh Arya on the very first ball. Then on the sixth ball of the first over, Jofra Archer bowled in-form captain Shreyas Iyer as well. By the 7th over, PBKS lost their first four wickets. After this, Nehal Wadhera (62 runs) and Glenn Maxwell (30 runs) did join an 88-run stand to revive their team but both of them lost their wickets on consecutive deliveries.
After that, PBKS' batting completely fell off the chase. Archer was the star bowler for RR as he picked 3 wickets for just 25 runs in four overs. Sandeep Sharma was highly effective as well he taking 2 wickets for just 21 runs in his four overs. Maheesh Theekshana (2/26), Kumar Kartikeya (1/21), and Wanindu Hasaranga (1/36) were the other wicket-takers.
