In the 40th match, something unexpected happened and it proved that in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL), no team is invincible as Punjab Kings (PBKS), who were on a roll, had a roadblock in this match against Rajasthan Royals (RR). At PCA Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, New Chandigarh, RR beat PBKS by 6 wickets.

Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bowl first. It was a shocking turnaround as the in-form Ravi Bishnoi was eliminated, and Shimron Hetmyer was also eliminated, with Yash Raj Punja and Dasun Shanaka getting a chance. PBKS also made a couple of changes by bringing in Suryansh Shedge for a possibly injured Shashank Singh, and Lockie Ferguson replaced Xavier Bartlett.

Marcus Stoinis was a massacre against RR

After being invited to bat first, the opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya went all out from the first over. The latter was the aggressor today, playing a stunning 11-ball 29, and the former scored another fifty when he was dismissed for 59 runs.

Yash Raj Punja was the pick of the bowlers from Riyan Parag’s team as he picked two wickets and also controlled some runs in the middle as Shreyas Iyer could not create much trouble but a strong knock of 66 runs off 22 balls from Marcus Stoinis who helped Punjab surpass the score of 200 runs as they finished on 222/4.

Donovan Ferreira hands PBKS its first defeat

Chasing the two flamboyant openers in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, as they began the carnage, the latter scored at a strike rate of 250 and scored 43 off 16 balls, giving Riyan Parag’s team the start they needed, scoring 50 in three overs.

Jaiswal also scored a brilliant 51 off 27 balls, and a quick knock from Riyan Parag’s 29 off 16 balls kept the runs flowing, but three wickets from Yuzvendra Chahal set the Kings back for some time.

Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey stood between PBKS’ victory as the two put together a partnership of 75 runs off 35 balls, with the former ending the game with an unbeaten score of 52 runs, and Dubey scoring 31 off 12 balls as RR collected their 2 points.

The way they played took away from PBKS- Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag was happy after the team’s performance and credited Donovan and Shubham for their exceptional innings and taking the game away from the Kings.

Riyan Parag said, “As a team, what we discussed before the tournament we achieved in this game. We could have restricted them a little lower, but the batsmen took over. We could have bowled a few better overs here and there, the batsmen a few better overs. But the aspiration to do well for 40 overs.”

“The concerns were coming from everyone watching, we trust the players, all the concerns are coming from outside and not from us. The plan was to keep wickets in hand but not fall too far behind in the run pace, the difficult part was to maintain the momentum, we fell behind a little but got it back again. He (Shubham Dubey) and Don (Donovan Ferreira) the way they played took it away from PBKS. The way they batted was commendable.”

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