‘Real EL Classico’ – Fans can’t keep calm as Punjab Kings defeat Rajasthan Royals by 5 runs in a million dollar game

Punjab Kings have registered their second win in IPL 2023 after they defeated Rajasthan Royals in a last-over thriller by 5 runs on Wednesday. Batting first, Punjab posted a total of 197 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. In reply, Rajasthan were restricted at 192 for 7.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to bowl at the Barsapara stadium. Punjab Kings had a great start as the skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh put up a partnership of 90 runs in 9.4 overs. Prabhsimran got out after scoring 60 runs off 34 balls, hitting seven fours and three sixes.

But Dhawan remained unbeaten on 86 runs off 56 balls including nine fours and three sixes. Jitesh Sharma also scored 27 off 16, helping Punjab go past 190. For RR, Jason Holder took 1 wicket, while Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal shared a wicket each.

Chasing the total, Rajasthan surprised everyone by sending Ravichandran Ashwin as an opener along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, RR’s experiment didn’t work out as Ashwin was gone for a duck. Jaiswal also lost his wicket after hitting a couple of boundaries.

RR were in trouble when Jos Buttler also got out after scoring 19 off 11 reducing the score to 57 for 3. After that, Samson took the charge and scored 42 runs off 25 balls hitting five fours and a maximum. However, Samson also lost his wicket as mistimed one only to caught by Matthew Short on the last ball of the 11th over by Nathan Ellis.

Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel put RR back into the game

After that, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel added 62 runs for the sixth wicket as RR tried getting closer to PBKS’ total. Hetmyer got out after smashing 36 off 18, while Jurel remained unbeaten on 32 off 15 balls as both fought hard but Rajasthan fell short of just 5 runs from Punjab’s total. For Punjab, Nathan Ellis scalped 4 wickets conceding 30 runs in his four overs, while Arshdeep Singh put 2 in his bag.

This was the first-ever IPL match that is being played in Guwahati, which is also the second home ground of Rajasthan along with the SMS Stadium in Jaipur. The Royals will be playing another match here against the Delhi Capitals on April 8.

Here’s a look at how fans reacted to Punjab’s win: