NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals produced a commanding all-round performance to hand Punjab Kings a 50-run defeat in Mullanpur on Saturday. The win was set up by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s classy 67 and sealed emphatically by Jofra Archer’s devastating opening burst with the ball.
Opening the innings, Jaiswal gave Rajasthan the perfect launchpad with a fluent 67 off just 45 balls. From the outset, Jaiswal looked in complete control, piercing the field with crisp boundaries and lifting the ball cleanly over the ropes. He struck three fours and five sixes in his knock, setting the tone for Royals’ massive 205/4.
The left-hander paced his innings smartly, first settling in and then accelerating after the powerplay, particularly taking on leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Marcus Stoinis in the middle overs. His fifty was his first of the season and came at a crucial juncture with Rajasthan needing a strong start to bounce back from recent defeats.
Jaiswal’s 89-run stand with Sanju Samson (38 off 26) put RR in control early. And after both departed, Riyan Parag (43* off 25) and Shimron Hetmyer (20 off 12) ensured the momentum never dipped, powering the Royals past the 200-run mark.
While the batters did the job upfront, it was Jofra Archer who delivered the knockout blow with the ball.
Bowling with pace and intent, Archer struck with the very first ball of the innings, removing Punjab opener Priyansh Arya for a duck. The searing delivery beat the batter for pace and rattled the stumps.
But Archer wasn’t done.
He returned later in the same over to deliver a body blow — the prized scalp of Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer. The right-hander was castled for 10, failing to read a skiddy delivery that breached his defense. Archer finished with figures of 3/25 from four overs, capping his fiery spell by dismissing Arshdeep Singh at the death.
The rest of the Rajasthan attack supported him well, with Theekshana and Sandeep Sharma bagging two wickets each. The result was a comprehensive bowling effort that restricted PBKS to just 155/9 in 20 overs, falling 50 runs short.
With this win, Rajasthan Royals not only boosted their net run rate but also regained some momentum, thanks to Jaiswal’s stroke-filled fifty and Archer’s thunderbolts with the new ball.
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