When Sam Curran said ‘we can spoil a few campaigns now’ at the toss on Wednesday, it wasn’t in jest.
The skipper of the already-eliminated Punjab Kings showed he meant business as his side beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets, extending Sanju Samson & Co.’s wait to confirm a top-two finish in IPL 2024.
Leading by example, Curran played a match-winning hand at the Barsapara Stadium here, scoring an unbeaten 41-ball 63 after picking two wickets to help PBKS’ efforts to avoid the wooden spoon.
In response to RR’s 144 for nine, the visitor got off to a confident start despite losing Prabhsimran Singh early.
But with Rilee Rossouw and Shashank Singh’s wickets in the fifth over, Avesh Khan injected belief into the crowd.
PBKS, which was at 35 for one at the end of four overs, was reduced to 39 for three after the PowerPlay.
Jonny Bairstow’s wicket followed shortly after when Donovan Ferreira and Riyan Parag combined to take a relay catch near the skirting.
Just when Curran and Jitesh Sharma seemed to have settled down, Chahal managed to see the back of the wicketkeeper-batter. Ashutosh Sharma, who walked in next to join his skipper, ensured there were no more hiccups.
Earlier, it didn’t take long for one to realise that the odd ball would swing at the venue.
Curran was quick to pounce, deceiving Yashasvi Jaiswal into playing a drive away from the body and getting an inside edge onto the stumps.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore, on debut, failed to provide respite to Rajasthan, which has been struggling with a royal headache for the past two days owing to the Jos Buttler-shaped hole at the top of the order.
With the pressure building, Samson hit Nathan Ellis’ bouncer straight down the throat of backward point, while trying to target the shorter square boundaries.
Parag, who strode in to a rousing reception from the home crowd, combined with R. Ashwin to put up a 50-run stand off 34 balls.
However, once Ashwin fell, it became difficult for RR to arrest the slide. Parag, who fell two short of his fifty, could only do so much.
Scoreboard
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Yashasvi Jaiswal b Curran 4 (4b, 1x4), Tom Kohler-Cadmore c Jitesh b Rahul Chahar 18 (23b, 2x4, 1x6), Sanju Samson c Rahul Chahar b Ellis 18 (15b, 3x4), Riyan Parag lbw b Harshal 48 (34b, 6x4), R. Ashwin c Shashank b Arshdeep 28 (19b, 3x4, 1x6), Dhruv Jurel c Harpreet b Curran 0 (1b), Rovman Powell c and b Rahul Chahar 4 (5b, 1x4), Donovan Ferreira c Rossouw b Harshal 7 (8b), Trent Boult run out 12 (9b, 2x4), Avesh Khan (not out) 3 (2b); Extras (lb-1, w-1): 2; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 144.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-4 (Jaiswal, 0.4 overs), 2-40 (Samson, 6.4), 3-42 (Kohler-Cadmore, 7.2), 4-92 (Ashwin, 12.6), 5-97 (Jurel, 13.3), 6-102 (Powell, 14.3), 7-125 (Ferreira, 17.3), 8-138 (Parag, 19.2 ov), 9-144 (Boult, 19.6).
PUNJAB KINGS BOWLING
Curran 3-0-24-2, Arshdeep 4-0-31-1, Ellis 4-0-24-1, Harshal 4-0-28-2, Rahul Chahar 4-0-26-2, Harpreet 1-0-10-0.
PUNJAB KINGS
Prabhsimran Singh c Chahal b Boult 6 (4b, 1x4), Jonny Bairstow c Parag b Chahal 14 (22b, 1x4), Rilee Rossouw c Jaiswal b Avesh 22 (13b, 5x4), Shashank Singh lbw b Avesh 0 (2b), Sam Curran (not out) 63 (41b, 5x4, 3x6), Jitesh Sharma c Parag b Chahal 22 (20b, 2x6), Ashutosh Sharma (not out) 17 (11b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (w-1): 1; Total (for five wkts. in 18.5 overs): 145.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-6 (Prabhsimran, 0.4 overs), 2-36 (Rossouw, 4.3), 3-36 (Shashank, 4.5), 4-48 (Bairstow, 7.6), 5-111 (Jitesh, 15.4).
ROYALS BOWLING
Boult 3-0-27-1, Sandeep 4-0-28-0, Avesh 3.5-0-28-2, Ashwin 4-0-31-0, Chahal 4-0-31-2.
Toss: Rajasthan Royals.
PoM: Curran
PBKS won by five wickets with seven deliveries remaining
