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Rajasthan Royals registered their fifth win of the 2024 season after defeating the Punjab Kings by three wickets at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur near Chandigarh. This victory allows Rajasthan to consolidate their top spot on the table as they have 10 points from six games with five wins and one loss.
After winning the toss, Rajasthan Royals started brilliantly with the ball and found an early breakthrough by dismissing Atharva Taide at a score of 15 in the fourth over. Soon Pramsimran Singh also got out as the Punjab problems continued with opener Jonny Bairstow struggling to score runs.
The Englishman eventually got out as he attempted to increase the scoring rate before Punjab's in-form batter Shashank Singh was also dismissed cheaply. Reeling at 70-5, Jitesh Sharma found a few boundaries but regular wickets kept RR on top.
The game finally tilted in Punjab's favour thanks to impact-sub Ashutosh Sharma, who smashed 31 in 16 balls and helped the Kings post 147 runs. With the ball, Keshav Maharaj and Yuzvendra combined to pick up two wickets each while giving away 54 runs in their eights.
In the second innings, Rajasthan also had a slowish start with the new opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiwasl and debutant Tanish Kotian but posted a decent score of 56 runs in nine overs. After the first breakthrough, PBKS bowlers zoomed back to dismiss Jaiswal and Sanju Samson in quick succession.
With this continued pressure with the ball, Punjab found two more breakthroughs but in the final few overs, the West Indian pair of Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell hit a few boundaries to turn the game in Rajasthan favours. Then in the final over, with 10 required, Hetmyer hit two sixes and won the game for the Royals.
