Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Today I will cover the game between the Rajasthan Royals and the Punjab Kings held at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati. So let’s get started!
Sanju Samson won the toss at their second home in Guwahati and opted to bat first, almost a random call as they weren’t used to the conditions. RR batted completely similarly to how they played with CSK, with the top-order being blown away quickly and Parag gave them a respectable finish by giving RR 144, with Rahul Chahar, Curran and “Purple” Patel getting 2 wickets each. The Kings had an even worse start but their captain had had enough and stepped on the pedal, getting a sublime fifty and was given company by Jitesh and Ashutosh, as they were comfortably home by 5 wickets and 7 balls spare.
In RR’s 4th straight loss, they would really want their top-order to keep going with a brisk rate as 140-145 scores and absolutely nothing to defend the bowlers even if the bowlers dominate completely as they did with CSK and also in this game. Just one defining over or a knock can change the game in a matter of minutes as we saw Dube’s 15-run over killed the game the other day, here Curran’s knock removed the high hopes of the Royals, who had an excellent start with the ball this time. The Punjab Kings have nothing to lose and played an excellent all-round match today, showing their real strength.
I am personally happy for Harshal to turn into “Purple” Patel because of his contributions to RCB for a couple of years were very crucial. Like how Bumrah deceives batters with his yorkers, this man relies on his magical slower balls and has worked wonders for him and the Kings. The Kings are actually a very good team and would want to show their batting strength in their next match at Uppal. But speaking about RR, what has gone wrong with them? Maybe some overconfidence and yes they have qualified for the playoffs but with this form, a side which was destined to be first wouldn’t want to throw the ticket to the Qualifier 1 to have a better chance. The bowlers certainly have done a good job but the batting has to step up, especially Jaiswal as he single-handedly needs to carry the ship because Buttler is not available and would want to finish strongly in their group stages against KKR at the same venue.
So that’s it for today. Tomorrow it will be an electrifying game as the mighty Sunrisers take on the Titans and would want to ensure qualification with a win tomorrow and a chance to come in the top 2. So stay tuned for that and have a good day!