Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals known for nail-biters, last-over finishes: Check 5 PBKS vs RR IPL thrillers

Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are known to be fierce rivals. They often end up in matches with last-over thrillers. Before they clash with each other again in an IPL 2024 match on April 13, let’s take a look at 5 such nailbiting encounters.

Sep 27, 2020

Punjab, batting first, put up a massive score of 223/2 in 20 overs, thanks to KL Rahul’s 69 off 54 balls and Mayank Agarwal’s 106 off 50 balls. On usual days, such a first-innings score is enough to win a match. Rajasthan, however, had different plans. Steve Smith scored 50 off 27 balls, Sanju Samson 85 off 42 and Rahul Tewatia 53 off 31.

After 19 overs, RR needed 2 runs to win. As leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin came to bowl, it was a dot ball to start the over. In the next ball, Ashwin castled Riyan Parag for a duck. As new batter Tom Curran came to the crease, he hit over the deep extra cover for 4. Rajasthan won by 4 wickets.

April 12, 2021

Batting first, Punjab made 221/6 as KL Rahul made 91 off 50 balls while Deepak Hooda made 64 off 28 balls. For Rajasthan, Sanju Samson hit a century. His 119 off 63 balls took RR closer to the score in the IPL encounter.

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Rajasthan needed 12 runs in the final over. Chris Morris and Sanju faced Arshdeep Singh. Only 2 runs came from the first 3 balls. Sanju hit the ball out of the park in the 4th ball. It followed another dot ball. Trying to hit another over-boundary, Sanju Samson got out off the last ball. Punjab won by 4 runs.

Sep 21, 2021

Yashasvi Jaiswal (49 off 36 balls) was the highest scorer for Rajasthan. Mahipal Lomror made 43 off 17 balls to take RR to 185/10 in 20 overs. KL Rahul (49 off 33 balls) contributed well while Mayank Agarwal (67 off 43 balls) was the highest scorer for Punjab.

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PBKS needed 4 runs off 6 balls to win. Kartik Tyagi bowled the final over with Aiden Markram facing the young pacer. As Markram took a single and went to the non-striker’s end, Tyagi took 2 wickets, Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda. Then, he bowled the perfect yorker to finish the over. Punjab, losing only 4 wickets, lost by 2 runs.

May 7, 2022

Punjab batted first and scored 189/5 in 20 overs. Jonny Bairstow (56 off 40 balls) was the highest scorer while Jitesh Sharma (38 off 18 balls) also had a good time with the bat. Rajasthan openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler had a 46-run partnership. The middle order batted well to get close to Punjab’s score. RR needed 8 runs from the final over.

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Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar came to bowl. He started with a wide and got hit for a 6 by Shimron Hetmyer. Chahar did bowl a couple of dot balls to make the situation intense. But, Rajasthan won by 6 wickets as Shimron took a single off Chahar’s full toss.

April 5, 2023

Simran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan had a 90-run opening partnership for Punjab. Simran made 60 off 34 balls before getting out to Jason Holder. Dhawan continued and made 86 off 56 balls. He remained not out as PBKS made 197/4 in 20 overs.

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Rajasthan had a poor start, with Yashasvi Jaiswal getting out in the 2nd over. Ravichandran Ashwin, promoted to bat at number 3, was out for a duck. No middle-order batter could make a mark while Sanju Samson made 42 off 25 balls before getting out.

Nevertheless, RR did get close to Punjab’s score, thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s explosive batting. They needed 16 runs in the last over. However, just 5 runs came from the first 5 deliveries as Hetmyer (36 off 18 balls) was run out due to a misunderstanding with Dhruv Jurel. Dhruv did hit Sam for a 4 in the last ball, but it was too late to recover. Punjab won by 5 runs.