Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, 18th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Chasing over 200 against an in-form Archer and a varied bowling lineup like RR's was always going to test this form PBKS side and they have faltered. But Shreyas feels they will come back stronger from this. Let's wait and watch. On that note we wind up our coverage for this game. Tomorrow is just a single game even though it's a Sunday. We will be there for that one. Do join us then. Till then sleep tight and snore away. See you. Bye.

Jofra Archer | Player of the Match: Beginning of the tournament that happened but happy to contribute to the win. When theren are days like this, you make sure you got to cash in, you enjoy the good ones and take the bad ones in your stride. You will be lucky in some circumstances, everyone is training just as hard as you, everyday is not going to be a great day. (on if he is now West Indian or England) No comment.

Sanju Samson: The way we started in the powerplay, we thought we were running a bit short but the quality of the batters we have got, 205 was a very good score on the board. Very young batting lineup, very young in age but they have played a lot of games for the country. They are managing and playing the game very well. (on Archer and Sandeep) That's a very deadly combo,. one guy bowling at 150 and one guy at 115. (on being told Sandeep hit 130kph) Oh did he? We should cut a cake on that maybe (smiles). I can trust them a bit more with the pressure overs. (on Archer) We all love it when he bowls fast. Doing it for me in the last 4 years, he is one of the best guys in India right now bowling fast. We did have a small meeting in the timeout and I suggested they are a quality side and we can't take it easy. Till the last ball is bowled, we can't guarantee a win. We focused on the process and the result took care of itself. We took our time to find out what the best combination, lineups and batting-orders are, injuries we have to take care as this is a long tournament.

Riyan Parag: (On starting out slow) That was the plan, getting runs in the powerplay was crucial. We knew the ball would stick a bit, so my plan was to take it easy till the 16th over and then accelerate. Couldn’t do it to the best of my ability but happy with the way I could contribute. (On Samson) He has been a great leader, having him back is a great plus for us. (On him batting at number 3 for right-left combination) Today it was, the game before it was pre-planned. Today the plan was we’ll decide who walks in after the sixth over. (On the last ball incident) I saw Lockie coming in and I saw his strike-rate on the big screen. It was 147, so I told Jofra you might need a long-on, but then I realised he didn’t need one so I rushed back in, perhaps just in time.

Shreyas Iyer: (On the performance) To be honest, I was considering around 180-185. That would be good to chase over here, we weren’t able to execute our plans. I’m glad this blip happened early in the tournament. It was a decent pitch, the ball was holding a bit and we were not giving them much pace. (On what went wrong) I felt we could have taken it slower and tried to build partnerships, but lots of learning from this game. Today there was no dew as we anticipated, but I feel we need to go back to the drawing board and see the videos where we weren't able to execute with our bowling and batting. We lost back to back wickets as well, which wasn’t ideal as it isn’t easy for new batters. Nehal was phenomenal under pressure. He took some time and then was able to charge the bowlers, make the most of the situation. Need a slight hiccup to wake you up at the start of the tournament. I personally feel this loss will be good and we will need to go back to the drawing board.

Stats by Shashikant Singh

The 170-plus target have been defended successfully 9 out of 10 times in T20s at this venue and Punjab Kings have lost five out of six games in Mullanpur.

Most wins as RR captain (IPL)
32 - Sanju Samson (62 mats)*
31 - Shane Warne (55 mats)
18 - Rahul Dravid (34 mats)
15 - Steven Smith (27 mats)
9 - Ajinkya Rahane (24 mats)

Most consecutive wins as an IPL captain
10 - Gautam Gambhir (2014-15)
8 - Shane Warne (2008)
8 - Shreyas Iyer (2024-25) - ended today
7 - MS Dhoni (2013)

23:18 Local Time, 17:48 GMT, 23:18 IST: A bit of a drag there at the end. But RR are all smiles after that big win. PBKS can't seem to win at this venue. And a first loss for Shreyas after 8 consecutive wins carrying on from last year when he led KKR to the title. Archer set the tone with his fiery spell and there was no looking back from there. He got Priyansh first ball and his extreme pace troubled everyone - so much so that after two stunning shots, Shreyas was unsettled by a short ball at 151kph and that played a part in him slogging wildy to be clean-bowled. Wadhera and Maxwell after four quick wickets got their side back in it with a fine stand with the left-hander hitting the ball so hard. But the duo were out in successive balls and from there it was just about completing the job for RR which they did. The last five overs produced just 24 as RR were superb at the death with everyone doing their job. It must be said that the pitch quickened up and there was more seam movement in the 2nd half of the game which made it even more difficult to handle Archer who was in red-hot form. PBKS have been handed a blow after a fine start. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...

Jofra Archer to Ferguson, FOUR, the last ball goes for four and it's a fumble from Sandeep at square third man. They are checking for a no-ball. Not enough fielders in the circle. Parag the man, who wants to tell the umpires the same. Ferguson comes down the track and drives the full ball with an open face, wide of backward point and Sandeep gets there but on the one-handed pickup he lets it go. Archer is not happy with that fielding effort. Parag at mid-on was outside the circle. So will be a no-ball and a free-hit coming up for Ferguson next. They are still checking this. Just three fielders in the ring on the off-side. No-one on the leg-side. Parag, Archer, Jaiswal and Hasaranga have a chat and a smile. The wait goes on. Clear no-ball but the umps decide it is not. That's strange. Won't matter in the grander scheme of things but that's poor after having taken so much time to not come at the right call. Ponting the PBKS coach has a smiling chat with the fourth umpire, probably enquiring why that was not a no-ball. Anyway first loss for PBKS this season

Lockie Ferguson, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Jofra Archer to Arshdeep Singh, out Caught by Hasaranga!! Straight to cover. Arshdeep Singh makes room and drills the full delivery on middle low and to the cover region, Hasaranga with a sharp catch. Smiles all around in the RR camp. Arshdeep Singh c Hasaranga b Jofra Archer 1(5)

Jofra Archer to Arshdeep Singh, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Jofra Archer to Shashank Singh, 1 run, full down leg, flicked to deep backward square-leg and they take one

Jofra Archer to Shashank Singh, no run, the furious short ball now, at Shashank Singh who looks to have got a top-edge on the pull, cannons into the body? Shashank does not know where the ball is, it has gone behind him, the physio comes out to have a concussion check which is mandatory

Jofra Archer to Shashank Singh, no run, a slower-ball on a length outside off, Shashank Singh slogs and misses, does not carry to Samson

Jofra Archer to Shashank Singh, no run, length delivery on off, flicked down to long-on and Shashank Singh does not take the run

56 off the last over. Archer to bowl.

Jofra Archer [3.0-0-20-2] is back into the attack