PBKS vs RR

With this result, there is a lock-jam on the points table. While Delhi Capitals hold the apex spot, there are six teams tied on 4 points each. That sets us up beautifully for the upcoming week of IPL 2025. But before we head there, we have another drool-worthy contest lined up for Sunday. Having lost three on a bounce, Sunrisers Hyderabad go back to their homeground to face-off against Gujarat Titans. Do joins us for that encounter. Our coverage begins at 6:30PM IST. For now, it is the commentary duo of Darpan Tikiya and Arya Sekhar Chakraborty signing off! Sayonara!

Jofra Archer (Player of the Match): "The beginning of the tournament, I was not happy. But today, I am happy to contribute. When you are having good days, you try to make the most of them. You will have bad days too. You got to understand that you will be lucky in some circumstances. Every one puts in hard yards. So, you are going to have bad days."

Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals captain): "The way we started in the powerplay, we asked ourselves, 'Are we running a bit short?'. It was hard to score boundaries. I knew they will find it tough too. The batters did well. They are young, but have experience of playing at the highest level. Archer and Sandeep are a deadly combo. One bowling at 150, the other at 125, but both equally effective. (When told that Sandeep bowled a 132kph ball) We should cut a cake for that. Archer with his pace and Sandy bowling the tough overs is a great combo. In the IPL, you cannot take any opposition lightly, we have played enough funny games. We executed really well. It took a while for us to figure out our combination and entry points for both batters and bowlers. But now, I think we are doing fine."

Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals): "That was the plan, getting few runs in the powerplay was important and Jaiswal did that brilliantly. My plan was to take it easy till the back end and then cut cut loose. Couldn't quite execute as well as I would have liked. Having Sanju back is great for us, if he needs anything from us, we are always there. Today it was the left right combination that's why Nitish batted at four. I saw Lockie come in and I saw his strike rate. Jofra asked me to rush in as I tried to be at long on and then rushed in later."

Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings captain): "To be honest I thought we would be considering about 180-185 which would have been great to chase. We conceded a few more runs but I am glad it happened at the start of the season. It was s decent pitch to bat, it was stopping a bit but I felt we could have stitched a few more partnerships rather than going ultra-aggressive. Obviously as you see there wasn't any dew, we can't be blaming on that. We have to go back to the drawing board and work out what didn't go our way and analyse especially why we lost two wickets in quick succession. Wadhera has been phenomenal, he took some time and analysed the situation. This is the third match, it's just the start of the tournament and I am glad it happened early on. We have to see the videos and come back stronger."

11:17 PM IST - Rajasthan Royals win by 50 runs

Yashasvi Jaiswal 67 (45) | Jofra Archer 3/25 (4)
Nehal Wadhera 62 (41) | Lockie Ferguson 2/37 (4)

After starting the tournament with a couple of awe-inspiring victories, Punjab Kings have been mauled in their first home game. The only time they ever looked to be in the game was when that pugnacious Nehal Wadhera - Glenn Maxwell partnership was in full flow. But after the two were dismissed off successive balls, the game meandered to a forgone conclusion.

Rajasthan must be lauded for the approach they adopted with the bat. The new ball swung fair bit, the wicket offered some turn too when the spinners slowed it up. But Royals only lost wickets when the batters miscued their attempts to go for big hits. Largely, their method was sensible yet effective.

Having got shallow returns in the first three matches, tonight the Rajasthan Royals openers were circumspect up top. They were watchful initially and seemed focused on playing themselves in. Even when they started to unleash big shots, there was a sense of maturity and calm in the way went about things. It is hard to recall a reckless shot through the course of that 89-run partnership. Both perished only when they tried to take on Ferguson's pace. The New Zealand quick bowled with some finesse tonight. He constantly registered handsome readings on the speed gun and delivered in the right areas too. However, the support he got from the other end was not as consistent. 

Though, the bounce off the pitch was largely true and it allowed the batters to hit through the line. That coupled by the fact that RR had wickets in the bank, permitted them to hit "mode turbo" towards the fag end of the innings. Parag's solid knock of 40 (25) and cameos from Hetmeyer and Jurel propelled them over 200.

Punjab's batting on the other hand, moved along like an old broken down car, stuttering at every mile of the way. For the Royals, Jofra Archer set the tone with ball. He bowled at high pace, made full use of the bounce that was on offer and knocked over two in-form batters in the very first over itself. Priyansh Arya was dismissed for a golden duck and after playing a couple of delightful shots, Shreyas Iyer was undone by a 148.6kph snorter too. While, Archer's thunderbolts got the fans salivating, a not so intimidating Sandeep Sharma quietly went about his business, delivering an even tighter spell. He finished with immaculate figures of 4-0-20-2. Meanwhile, two Sri Lankan spinners were made to bowl tough overs. Both came out with flying colors too. In the end, Royals notch up a comfortable win, which not only gives them two important points but also a crucial net run rate boost.

There is confusion because as Archer got into his delivery stride, Riyan Parag was walking into the circle. They confirm that he was. It is a legal ball.

Would you believe it? This might be a no-ball for having more than the permitted number of fielders outside the circle. TV umpire is going through the replays to check.

19.6 Jofra Archer to Lockie Ferguson, FOUR! Ferguson makes some room and slices away the full-length delivery a shade outside off, past the point region, fumble in the deep and allows Ferguson to find the boundary. The TV umpire is checking how many fielders were outside the circle. This is not a no ball and Rajasthan Royals win by 50 runs.