New Chandigarh: Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey put together an impressive unbeaten 77-run partnership off just 32 balls to take Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in the 40th match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh, on Tuesday.
With the game tightly contested after 14 overs and the required run rate exceeding 12, the pair made the chase look easy. Ferreira and Dubey took full advantage when the spinners were out, targeting the pace bowlers. Arshdeep Singh was hit for three fours in his return spell, while Marco Jansen conceded a four and a six. The duo kept up their attack against Arshdeep, showing poise and clean hitting to finish the chase and hand Punjab Kings their first loss of the season.
Earlier, Rajasthan’s chase was energised by a fast start from the 15-year-old sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. After Yashasvi Jaiswal gave him the strike, Sooryavanshi made a strong impression. Despite Arshdeep Singh starting with two accurate yorkers, the young player replied with 6, 4, 4, helping RR score 15 runs in the opening over. He continued his offensive against Lockie Ferguson and Jansen, hitting sixes and boundaries with ease.
Sooryavanshi raced to 43 off 16 balls, hitting three fours and five sixes, before Arshdeep changed his angle and got him to slice a low full toss into the air, where Shreyas Iyer took the catch. During his innings, Sooryavanshi reached 400 runs in just 167 balls at an astonishing strike rate of 238.09—the fastest any player has scored 400 runs in an IPL season. RR had already surpassed 50 runs in 3.2 overs and reached 66/1 after four overs.
Jaiswal, who had been quiet initially, took control after Sooryavanshi's dismissal. He hit 4, 6, 4 against Arshdeep and reached a 27-ball 51, getting his fifty off 26 balls. However, Yuzvendra Chahal made a crucial impact for PBKS, getting Jaiswal out and then dismissing Riyan Parag (29) as RR managed only 25 runs over the next four overs, also losing Dhruv Jurel (16 off 20).
Harpreet Brar bowled tightly, giving away just 25 runs in his four overs, but it was Chahal’s strikes that shifted the momentum. At one point, RR needed 100 runs in 52 balls with the required run rate rising steadily.
Nevertheless, Ferreira and Dubey completely turned the tide. With fearless batting and strategic targeting of the seamers, they broke down the PBKS bowling attack during the death overs, ensuring no further setbacks.
Earlier in the match, PBKS scored a solid 222/4 after batting first. Jofra Archer started strong, dismissing Priyansh Arya (29), but Prabhsimran Singh anchored the innings with 59 off 44 balls. He received support from Cooper Connolly (30) in a 59-run partnership off 33 balls, while Iyer contributed 30.
Punjab started aggressively, even though Jofra Archer is known for making early breakthroughs. While Archer didn’t take a wicket in the first over, Prabhsimran hit a boundary, bringing the score to 8/0. Meanwhile, Priyansh Arya made a spectacular contribution. With a Power-play strike rate of 260.27, Arya attacked Nandre Burger fearlessly, including an incredible backfoot six over covers. Burger ended up giving away 21 runs in one over.
The battle between Arya and Archer was intense. After surviving a couple of chances, one in the vacant slip and another that was dropped, Arya kept attacking until Archer delivered a 150.1 kph ball to get him out, ending Arya’s rapid innings and winning their duel.
The standout performance was Marcus Stoinis’ explosive, unbeaten 62 off 22 balls, which helped Punjab reach over 220.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 222/4 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 62, Prabhsmiran Singh 59; Yash Punja 2-41, Jofra Archer 1-40) lost to Rajasthan Royals 228/4 in 19.2 overs (Donovan Ferreira 52, Yashasvi Jaiswal 51; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-36, Arshdeep Singh 1-68). IANS
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