The Rajasthan Royals batter Donovan Ferreira secured the game for his side with a match-winning fifty and he celebrated it with a fist bump with Shubam Dubey. He stepped up at a crucial point for the Royals as they needed some fire power at the back end. After the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ferreira was sent out to bat at number 5 and he was expected to provide support to his skipper Riyan Parag at the other end. It wasn’t Rajasthan’s game all along but it was the partnership of Shubam Dubey and Donovan Ferreira that pulled the game back in favour of the Rajasthan Royals.

Donovan Ferreira is arguably one of the best finishers of the format in recent times and it was just a matter of time until he delivered such a performance like this. He was known for his contributions in the previous games as well and the partnerships he had formed with Ravindra Jadeja. Against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the wickets were falling thick and fast and it was Ferreira and Jadeja who battled till the end to reduce the impact on the net run-rate. The Rajasthan Royals won the game by 6 wickets and Donovan Ferreira was awarded the “Player of the Match award.

Late partnership with Shubam Dubey powers Royals past 222, ending Punjab Kings’ unbeaten run

The Rajasthan Royals had a huge chase in the 2nd innings as the Punjab Kings had put on a total of 222 after the 20 overs. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal had put up a terrific powerplay batting display as they put on a partnership of 51 runs off just 20 balls. Dhruv Jurel couldn’t contribute a lot but he provided support to Yashasvi Jaiswal at the other end. There was some flourish by Riyan Parag but it was short-lived and they required even more. After the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag, it was quite obvious that Donovan Ferreira needed to find the boundary if Rajasthan Royals were to win the game.

Donovan Ferreira played a match-winning knock of 52 off just 26 balls, including 6 fours and 3 sixes, striking at 200. He stitched together a magnificent partnership with Shubam Dubey of 77 runs and that helped them to get across the line. It was 35 required off 18 balls and the duo found it quite simple to chase down. They smashed Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson and Marco Jansen towards the end with plenty of boundaries in their overs. Ferreira smashed a six off the 2nd ball of the last over to reach his half-century and seal the deal for the Rajasthan Royals.

Riyan Parag and his men will take another win into their stride and they have ended the unbeaten streak of the Punjab Kings. They will have almost secured their place in the playoffs but they will require a couple of wins to confirm their qualification for the playoffs.