5 factors behind RR's fourth consecutive defeat

RR’s slow start

Opting to bat first, Rajasthan Royals (RR) couldn’t gather any momentum in their innings. Sam Curran dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first over. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, making his IPL debut, scored only 18 off 23. Scoring 17 off 20 balls in the powerplay, he played the second-slowest powerplay innings in the season. After eight overs, RR were only 43/3. 

Ashwin, Parag revive RR

RR promoted Ravichandran Ashwin again. Ashwin and Riyan Parag added 50 runs for the fourth wicket off 34 balls. Ashwin was holed out in the 13th over for 28 off 19 balls. Parag scored 48 off 34 balls and was out only in the last over. 

PBKS bowlers bury RR in death overs

Parag and Ashwin were the only RR batters to score over 20 runs. Consequently, RR managed only 41/3 in their last five overs. Curran picked 2/24 in his three overs. Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar bowled all their four overs, picking 2/28 and 2/26 respectively. 

PBKS’ batting stutter

Chasing only 145, Punjab stuttered to 48/4 in eight overs. Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw scored 36 of these while Shashank Singh (0 off 2) and Prabhsimran Singh (6 from 4) didn’t bother the scorers much. It seemed like Punjab would have another batting meltdown. 

Captain Curran to the rescue

After an impressive spell with the ball, the stand-in skipper, Curran also ushered Punjab with the bat, scoring 63 not out off 41 balls. He had a 63-run partnership with Jitesh Sharma (22 off 20) and then added another 34 runs with Ashutosh Sharma to take the side home. Curran’s innings took PBKS from 36/3 at his entry point in the fifth over to their target in the 19th. 

Play Asli Fantasy on Cricket.com. Download the app now.