IPL 2023, RR vs PBKS: Dhawan leads from the front, Hetmyer and Jurel's late heroics and other top moments

Punjab Kings have had many a memorable, thrilling encounters with Rajasthan Royals in recent editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), though it is the Kings who have often been on the wrong side of the result.

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On Wednesday, however, the Kings managed to hold their nerve in another tight contest with the Royals that went down to the very last over, pulling off a five-run run in Guwahati and extending their perfect start to IPL 2023 with a second straight win.

With the victory Punjab jumped to the second spot on the IPL points table with Shikhar Dhawan getting his reign as PBKS skipper off to an idea start. As a result of this victory, Punjab will be entering their next game, against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad, in an upbeat state.

In Photos: Punjab Kings defeat Rajasthan Royals in high-scoring thriller

Rajasthan, meanwhile, will have to go back to the drawing board with Sanju Samson and Co getting stopped in their tracks after getting their campaign off to a flying start with a 72-run win over SRH.

As we look back at the events of the RR-PBKS clash, we bring to you some of the top moments from the eighth game of the 16th season:

Prabhsimran off to another fiery start

We’re a little over a week into the 16th season of the IPL and Prabhsimran Singh already has turned out to be one of the standout performers so far. Prabhsimran was dismissed after getting off to a promising start against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, but managed to convert the start into a big score in Guwahati with a blistering knock that once again set the tone for a big total for the Punjab Kings.

Prabhsimran smashed seven fours and three sixes in what was his first half-century in five IPL seasons before a superb catch by Jos Buttler off Jason Holder’s bowling brought his stay at the crease to an end.

Dhawan producing a captain’s knock

Not only has Dhawan been proactive with his leadership and got his reign as captain of the Punjab Kings off to a positive start, he has also led from the front in the two games so far, producing a whirlwind 86 off just 56 deliveries to power Punjab to a total within touching distance of the 200-mark.

And his knock was a story of two halves — playing second fiddle till the time Prabhsimran was around before shifting gears and taking the attack to the Royals in the middle and slog overs. Not only did Dhawan bring up his first half-century as PBKS captain after narrowly missing out against KKR, he also became only the third batter in the history of the IPL to complete a half-century of half-centuries after David Warner and Virat Kohli.

Royals’ strange move

Jos Buttler had hurt his finger while pulling off a sliding catch at long on to dismiss M Shahrukh Khan — his second catch off Jason Holder’s bowling, As a result, he had to get his finger treated by the medical team and couldn’t walk out to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.

For some reason, the Royals saw it fit to send Ravichandran Ashwin out to open alongside Jaiswal; now Ash is no mug with the bat and not only has he produced cameos for the Royals in the past, he had also opened the innings alongside Mike Hussey for CSK in 2014. But the decision appeared a bit strange given RR had Devdutt Padikkal, who is very much an opening batter, at their disposal.

Safe to say the experiment didn’t work as Ashwin was dismissed for a four-ball duck.

Ellis’ inspired spell

After Arshdeep’s 3/19 against KKR on Saturday, it was Australia seamer Nathan Ellis’ turn to shine with the ball in Wednesday’s clash against the Royals. Ellis, who had been retained by the Kings ahead of the 2023 season, broke the backbone of the Rajasthan batting lineup with a haul of 4/30, his maiden five-for in his third IPL season, that ultimately earned him the Player of the Match award over Dhawan’s unbeaten 86.

And among his four wickets were the in-form duo of Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, both of whom are in red-hot form at the moment and smashed half-centuries against the Sunrisers on Sunday. The Aussie, though, would’ve been slightly disappointing at a 16-run final over somewhat ruining an excellent spell. Punjab, though, would be thankful for another member of the pace department standing up on a day when Arshdeep was taken to the cleaners.

Hetmyer and Jurel’s late burst

Ellis’ heroics with the ball, though, nearly went in vain after a brilliant comeback staged by Shimron Hetmyer and ‘Impact Player’ Dhruv Jurel, both of whom teed off at a time when the game appeared done-and-dusted in Punjab’s favour. RR needed 69 off the last four overs when the pair decided to go hammer and tongs, collecting 53 runs in the next three overs with both batters timing the ball like a dream. The pair would bring up the fifty stand in just 21 deliveries, and reduce the equation to a very chaseable 16 off the final over.

Sam Curran, though, would prove as to why Punjab Kings shelled out a record sum of Rs 18.5 crore in the auction as he would stop Hetmyer and Jurel’s charge with an outstanding final over.

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