NEW DELHI: Skipper Shikhar Dhawan led from the front with a superbly paced unbeaten half-century while his opening partner Prabhsimran Singh brought up his maiden fifty in IPL - playing a fearless innings early on - as Punjab Kings beat Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Thanks to Dhawan and Prabhsimran, Punjab reached a formidable 197/4 and Rajasthan Royals were never in control of the chase despite captain Sanju Samson playing a steady knock of 25-ball 42 even as he lost partners at the other end mostly due to soft dismissals.
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It was only in the last four overs that 'impact player' Dhruv Jurel, who came in place of leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shimran Hetmyer raised the hopes of the home crowd for a winning finish.
1/10:IPL 2023: Punjab Kings survive scare to beat Rajasthan Royals
PTI
2/10:Punjab beat Rajasthan
<p>Skipper Shikhar Dhawan's 86* and 4 wickets from Nathan Ellis helped Punjab Kings to their second straight victory with a tense five-run win over Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.</p>ANI
3/10:Match-winning stand
<p>Punjab rode on Dhawan's 56-ball knock and his 90-run opening stand with Prabhsimran Singh (60), to post 197/4 after being invited to bat first in Guwahati.</p>PTI
4/10:Maiden IPL 50
<p>Prabhsimran set the tone for Punjab as the 22-year-old hit his maiden IPL fifty and struck three sixes. </p>PTI
5/10:Prabhsimran on fire
<p>Dhawan took time to get into the groove and allowed his younger partner to take centre stage as Prabhsimran smashed the bowlers around in his 34-ball knock. </p>PTI
6/10:Stunning catch
<p>Prabhsimran finally fell to a stunning outfield catch by Buttler who covered good ground from long-off to take a diving catch off Jason Holder. </p>AP
7/10:Dhawan on the rampage
<p>Dhawan stood firm and soon changed gears to take on the bowlers as he hit three boundaries in one over off Yuzvendra Chahal. </p>PTI
8/10:Another good outfield catch
<p>Buttler took another good outfield catch but injured his finger in the process and came to bat one down instead of his usual opening slot. </p>ANI
9/10:Nathan Ellis
<p>Australia's Ellis then starred in his second game of his IPL debut season to return figures of 4/30 and keep Rajasthan to 192/7, but not after a scare.</p>AP
10/10:Man of the match
<p>Rajasthan lost two early wickets to Arshdeep Singh and Ellis, named man of the match, soon took over when he sent back Jos Buttler, caught and bowled.</p>APAussie pacer Nathan Ellis stole the bowling limelight for Punjab with figures of 4/30. However, the duo's late efforts fell short in the end as the Kings roared louder than 'Hall Bol' to seal a nervy five-run win for their second consecutive victory.
As expected, there were numerous reactions on Twitter after Punjab's victory:
