Dropped catches will haunt the Rajasthan Royals as they fell to a five-run loss against the Punjab Kings in their IPL encounter.
After being sent into bat, Punjab Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh put up a stellar opening stand against the Royals. The pair added 90 off 58 for the opening partnership. The duo's show with the willow saw Punjab post a strong total against the Royals.
The key turning point in the match could be pegged at when both Dhawan and Prabhsimran were dropped. Had Royals picked up the catches, the match could have panned out differently.
While Prabhsimran, who struck his maiden IPL half-century, was dropped by Devdutt Padikkal, Dhawan too was handed a lifeline.
Prabhsimran was dropped just before the Powerplay ended by Padikkal at the boundary ropes. The youngster scored a scintillating 34-ball 60 to set Punjab up for a big score.
After being dropped by Yuzvendra Chahal on 50 off his own bowling, Dhawan punished the Royals.
He played a scintillating unbeaten knock of 86 off 56 to guide Punjab to a strong total of 197/4.
While the dropped catches were a key point in the match and set Punjab up for the win, Arshdeep Singh's early strikes set the tone in the second innings.
Though the hard-hitting Yashasvi Jaiswal got Royals off to a strong start with a boundary, Arshdeep ended his innings early. Following Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin, promoted up the order as opener, fell for a duck as Arshdeep set the tone with two quick strikes.
While Arshdeep picked up the two wickets, Nathan Ellis's four-wicket haul was the match-winning spell for the visiting side.
With match-winning performances and lady luck on their side, Punjab Kings walked away with a thrilling five-run win on Wednesday.
