The Rajasthan Royals, after losing their opening three Indian Premier League games, made a strong comeback and gave the Punjab Kings their first-ever defeat in 2025.
At the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, in New Chandigarh, the away side (RR) won the game by 55 runs.
After losing the toss, Rajasthan had to bat first. It was also the comeback of their captain Sanju Samson; who missed the first three games due to an injury.
Samson opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a match-winning 67 runs in 45 balls.
Even the RR captain contributed with 38 runs in 26 deliveries. The top-order of the visitors worked this time around, with Ryan Parag hitting 43 runs not out (25 balls).
Nitish Rana’s 12, Shimron Hetmyer’s 20 and Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten 13 runs helped Rajasthan give a 201-run target to Punjab.
It seemed as if in-form Punjab could chase the mega total. However, impact player Priyansh Arya got out scoring a golden duck.
This impacted the team to the core with Ayra’s opening partner Prabhasimran Singh injecting just 17 runs.
The match did see the comeback of England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who took the wicket of Ayra followed by Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer (scoring just 10 runs). Later, he added Arshdeep Singh’s wicket to his telly.
Marcus Stoinis’ 1-run contribution made things hectic for the home side. Nehal Wadhera tried to close down the gap with 62 runs in 41 balls. He did get the backing from Glenn Maxwell, who added 30 in 21 deliveries, for a while.
However, the Australian star lost his wicket from the set position. The very action made Punjab out of the game to the core.
It is the first defeat of Iyer’s side in three games played.
Also read:- Chennai Lose Again, Delhi Stay Unbeaten in IPL 2025
