Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals played out the most thrilling match of the season so far in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 with the former eventually winning by just 5 runs in a high-scoring game in Guwahati.
The Barsapara Cricket Stadium hosted its first IPL match and it turned out to be a blockbuster as PBKS successfully defended 197 despite two superb knocks from Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer.
The Royals were struggling at 124 for 6 when Impact Player Jurel joined Hetmyer at the crease with the team still needing 70 runs from 30 balls at a required rate of nearly 15 per over.
The target seemed too far for the chasing team but Jurel and Hetmyer had other ideas.
They batted with confidence and courage to add 61 runs off 26 balls. They brought the equation back from needing 15 per over to 16 from 6 balls in the final over as RR recovered from 124 for 6 to 186 for 6 when Hetmyer got run out for 36 in the final over.
Jurel (32*) tried his best but the target proved just enough for PBKS as they stopped the Royals at 192 for 7, thanks to some outstanding bowling from Nathan Ellis.
The Australian pacer bagged four wickets for 30 runs from his four overs while left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh bagged a couple of scalps for Punjab.
Shikhar Dhawan leads from the front for Punjab
Earlier, PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan batted the entire 20 overs to help the team post 197 for 4 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first by Sanju Samson.
Dhawan carried his bat and played from start to finish to end up with 86 not out off 56 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes while his opening partner Prabhsimran Singh made 60 off 34 balls.
The duo added 90 for the first wicket which laid a solid foundation for Punjab's innings.
Jason Holder bagged a couple of wickets while spin twins Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal picked one each.
