Guwahati; News Agency: On the strength of captain Sam Curran's (63 not out and 2 wickets) all-round contribution, Punjab Kings recorded a shocking result by defeating Rajasthan Royals by 5 wickets in the IPL league match here. On the one hand, it was the fourth consecutive win for Punjab, while it was the fourth consecutive defeat for Rajasthan. It has been a real wake-up call for Rajasthan, who are second in the IPL points table. After restricting Rajasthan to a paltry score of 144 for 9, Punjab secured a one-sided victory with 145 for 5 in 18.5 overs. Sam Curran's all-round innings was the highlight of the match.
With a relatively minor challenge of 145 to win, captain Sam Curran made the match one-sided with his blistering innings. He scored an unbeaten 63 off just 41 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes. In fact, Punjab's innings got off to a poor start at 45 for 4 in 8 overs; But Kuren completed the task of victory without allowing any further downfall. As Punjab's challenge was already over, this fight was not very important for them. It was Punjab's fifth win in 13 matches this season.
Earlier, while batting first, Rajasthan Royals reached 144 for 9 in the stipulated 20 overs. Rian Parag came to bat at number four and scored 48 runs off 34 balls and this was the highest innings for Rajasthan. His innings consisted of 6 fours. Apart from this, Ravichandran Ashwin contributed 28 runs off 19 balls, while Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Sanju Samson contributed 18 runs each.
In bowling, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar and Sam Curran took 2 wickets each. Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Illis took one wicket each. With Rajasthan Royals at the second position in the points table and Punjab Super Kings at the bottom, the match was formal.
Brief scoreboard
Rajasthan Royals: 144 for 9 in 20 overs. (Ryan Parag 48, R. Ashwin 28, Sam Curran 2/24, Rahul Chahar 2/24, Harshal Patel 2/28.)
Punjab Kings: 145 for 5 in 18.5 overs. (Sam Curren 63 not out, Jitesh Sharma 22, Avesh Khan 2/28, Yajuvendra Chahal 2/31.)
