Donovan Ferreira came out to bat at 5 and shone with the bat to act like the finisher as his whirlwind fifty alongside a half-century from Yashasvi Jaiswal and the start from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as well helped RR inflict a first defeat on PBKS. Donovan Ferreira dazzled under the lights in New Chandigarh, but before that, Marcus Stoinis’ fiery unbeaten 62 and Prabhsimran Singh’s 59 helped PBKS post a competitive 222/4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gave a whirlwind start with his 43 off 16 balls while Yashasvi Jaiswal made a useful 51 off 27 balls. Thereafter, Donovan Ferreira played the role of the finisher and made 52 off 26 balls while Shubham Dubey made 31 off 12 balls; both Ferreira and Dubey remained unbeaten in the end. Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3 wickets for the Punjab Kings, but it was in vain in the end. PBKS suffers a rare first loss and a wake-up call, while RR moves to 3rd in the points table with 12 points.
Marcus Stoinis & Prabhsimran Singh power PBKS to 222/4 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, keeper batter Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya came out to bat for PBKS while Jofra Archer had the ball in hand for RR. The duo were off the blocks quickly as Arya took the attack to the opposition, especially Burger. Arya got lucky against Archer as there was an edge that went through the vacant slip and another ball that went through Jaiswal’s hands for a boundary. But the first partnership was finally broken when the score was 37.
The openers put on 37 for the first wicket before Arya fell for 29 off 11 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name to Archer. Cooper Connolly came out to bat next. Connolly took his time initially, while Prabhsimran took the attack to the opposition. The power play score after the end of 6 overs was 65/1 in 6 overs for the Kings as they had a base to go big. Connolly got into the act post the power play.
The duo put on 59 runs for the second wicket before Connolly fell for a quickfire 30 off 14 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Yash Punja. Shreyas Iyer, the captain, came out to bat next. Prabhsimran continued his merry ways while Iyer got his eye in before playing his shots. RR bowled well to the captain, Iyer and kept him quiet. The duo forged another important partnership. They put PBKS in a comfortable position.
Things slowed down for the Kings a little bit. The duo of Singh and Iyer put on 48 for the 3rd wicket before Prabhsimran went for a well-made 59 off 44 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name against Punja. Marcus Stoinis came out to bat next. Stoinis was quickly off the blocks, even as Iyer was anchoring the innings throughout. Iyer rotated the strike since he was struggling to time the ball, and so he gave the strike to Stoinis, who scored the bulk of the runs.
The duo added 37 important runs in quick time for the 4th wicket before Shreyas fell for 30 off 27 balls with one four and one six to his name to Nandre Burger. Suryansh Shedge walked out to bat with two overs to go in the innings. Shedge was a mere spectator now as Stoinis was in and took charge of the proceedings. He was clearing the ground comfortably as Shedge was a mere spectator at the other end. Archer bowled the 19th over and gave away 17 runs.
Brijesh Sharma came to bowl the final over, and he went the distance. He bowled well in the first few overs, but lost the plot in the death overs. Stoinis was up for it and completed his fifty in just 20 balls. Stoinis smashed Sharma for sixes and fours galore and finished with 24 runs in a single over. PBKS reached a competitive 222/4 in 20 overs with Stoinis unbeaten on 62 off 22 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes to his name, while Shedge was unbeaten on 3 off 2 balls. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
From the RR’s point of view, the bowlers bowled decently. Yash Punja finished with 2/41 in 4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 1/40 in 4 overs. Nandre Burger finished with 1/59 in 4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 0/32 in 4 overs, while Brijesh Sharma finished with 0/42 in 4 overs. So, this means that the target for RR when they come out to bat is 223 in 20 overs.
Donovan Ferreira & Yashasvi Jaiswal’s half-centuries help RR beat PBKS for the first time this season
Chasing 223 for the win, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came out to bat for RR while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for PBKS. The teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came out all guns blazing and was quickly off the blocks, while Jaiswal was playing second fiddle initially. Jaiswal did not take many strikes initially, while Vaibhav was superb to say the least. The duo put on 51 runs for the first wicket in just over 3 overs, with Vaibhav scoring the bulk of the runs. Vaibhav was the first to depart for 43 off 16 balls with 3 fours and 5 sixes to his name against Arshdeep Singh. Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next.
It was a struggle for Jurel out there as Jaiswal took on the bowling after Vaibhav’s departure. Jurel went at less than a run a ball despite hitting a six. The duo of Jaiswal and Jurel added 54 runs for the second wicket in quick time before Jurel fell for 16 off 20 balls with one six to his name to Yuzvendra Chahal. Captain Riyan Parag came out to bat next and got off the mark with a maximum.
Jaiswal and Parag tried to forge a partnership as they added 18 runs for the 3rd wicket before Jaiswal fell for a well-made 51 off 27 balls with 7 fours and one six to his name to Chahal yet again. Donovan Ferreira came out to bat next and got his eye in before playing his shots. Parag looked good and got a start this time. The duo of Parag and Ferreira added 28 runs for the 4th wicket before Parag fell for 29 off 16 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Chahal yet again. Impact Player Shubham Dubey came out to bat next with the score at 151/4 in 14 overs.
From here on, there was no looking back for the RR as they did not allow another wicket to fall from here. Dubey made a great impact and played some audacious shots. But it was the Donovan Ferreira show as he justified his position at Number 5 and played the role of the finisher. Dubey did his bit as well. The fast bowlers were taken to the cleaners by the duo of Ferreira and Dubey. The likes of Arshdeep Singh and Lockie Ferguson were taken to the cleaners.
The duo put on a match-winning 77 runs off 32 balls, with Ferreira finishing things off in style with the maximum as he got to his fifty as well. The Royals got over the line in 19.2 overs. Ferreira remained unbeaten on 52 off 26 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name, while Dubey remained unbeaten on 31 off 12 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name. 6 extras given by the fielding side as RR got to the target in 19.2 overs, finishing at 228/4, winning by 6 wickets.
For the Punjab Kings, Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/36 in 4 overs. Arshdeep Singh got a wicket but went for 68 runs in 4 overs. Lockie Ferguson went for 57 runs in 4 overs. Marco Jansen went for 41 runs in 3.2 overs. Harpreet Brar, the Impact Player, bowled well for his 0/25 in 4 overs. So, RR won the contest by 6 wickets with 4 balls to spare to climb to 3rd in the points table. PBKS stays at the top despite the loss. Donovan Ferreira was adjudged the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So, PBKS lose a game and get a wake-up call in this tournament. RR climbs to 3rd in the points table. RR next plays on Friday night against DC in Jaipur. PBKS next faces GT in Ahmedabad on Sunday night. Coming up next, we will have MI in a must-win game against 4th-placed SRH in Mumbai tomorrow night. Let’s see how things pan out in this particular game tomorrow night.
Also Read:Â PBKS vs RR: Marcus Stoinis’ Whirlwind Knock Sets Mammoth Target For RR