Mohali, April 6 (H.S.): In the match played on Saturday during the 18th season of the IPL, Rajasthan Royals delivered a stellar performance, handing Punjab Kings a crushing defeat by 50 runs at their home ground in Mullanpur. This marked Punjab's first loss of the season, while Rajasthan showed signs of a strong comeback.

The match began with Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer winning the toss and opting to bowl first. Batting first, Rajasthan scored 205 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal played a blistering innings of 67 runs (45 balls, 3 fours, 5 sixes), while Sanju Samson contributed 38 runs. In the final overs, Riyan Parag (not out 43) and Dhruv Jurel (13) helped the team reach a strong score.

In response, the Punjab team appeared to be under pressure while batting. In the very first over, Jofra Archer surprised them by bowling out Priyansh Arya. In the next over, Shreyas Iyer also fell to Archer's delivery. Following that, a line of batters fell one after the other. Prabhsimran Singh and Marcus Stoinis also returned to the pavilion quickly. However, Nehal Wadhera (62 runs) and Glenn Maxwell (30 runs) revived the match with an 88-run partnership, but after both were dismissed in the 15th over, Punjab's innings fell apart. The entire team managed to score only 155 runs in 20 overs.

For Rajasthan, Archer took three wickets, while Sandeep Sharma and Matheesha Pathirana claimed two wickets each. Hasaranga and Kumar Kartikeya each took one wicket.

With today's victory, Sanju Samson made history as the captain of Rajasthan Royals. He surpassed the legendary 'late' Shane Warne for the most wins as captain of Rajasthan Royals in IPL history. The Australian icon had recorded 31 wins in 55 matches, but with Punjab's defeat today, this record now belongs to Sanju Samson. Under Sanju's captaincy, Rajasthan has won 32 out of 62 matches.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar