Rajasthan Royals produced a watertight bowling performance to strangle Punjab Kings and keep their winning momentum intact in IPL 2025 at Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Saturday, April 5 2025.
After posting 205 for 4 on the board, the RR bowlers kept it tight to restrict the high-flying Punjab for 155-9 to secure two vital points. It was only the third 200-plus innings total at this venue in 29 T20 matches.
RR's pace attack, led by Jofra Archer, delivered a fiery performance, taking wickets early and gaining control for their team.
They were brilliant at the death too, conceding just 24 runs in the last five overs.
Archer set the tone by picking two wickets in the very first over. Sandeep Sharma and Maheesh Theekshana too were equally brilliant, suffocating the Punjab batters with their accuracy and variations.
Chasing a big total, Punjab slumped to 31 for 3 inside four overs and could not recover from there.
Archer finished with 3-25, while Sandeep and Theekshana picked two wickets each, giving away 21 and 26 runs respectively.
Impact Sub Kumar Kartikeya and Wanindu Hasaranga also nabbed a wicket apiece.
For Punjab, Lockie Ferguson was the most successful bowler, picking two for 37 in his four overs. Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen too chipped in with a wicket each.
Take a look at the top performers with the ball from :
Jofra Archer
The English pacer, who turned 30 on April 1, continued his rich vein of form with a masterclass performance with the new ball.
With his very first ball, he knocked over PBKS Opener Priyansh Arya with a back of a length ball on middle stump. The ball curved away and Priyansh, looking to defend it, played far too inside the line, and was beaten on the outside-edge. The ball hit the top of off-stump as Archer celebrated by punching the air.
In the final ball of the over, he struck again, sending back the in-form Shreyas Iyer. Shreyas, who hit Archer for two boundaries, fell to a short ball on the stumps.
The Punjab skipper backed away and slogged, exposing all his stumps, and missed it completely as Archer sent his stumps cartwheeling. It was Shreyas' first dismissal (10 off 5 balls) in five IPL innings after scoring unbeaten 58, 6, 97, and 52.
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In the final over the Punjab innings, Archer returned to pick another wicket. A full delivery on the middle stump and Arshdeep Singh made room to drill it to the cover region, but the ball went straight to Wanindu Hasaranga.
Archer, after disappointing outings in the first two matches, bowled with great pace and accuracy and put the opposition on the back foot right from the word go.
He bowled as many as seven dot balls and conceded just four boundaries. With excellent figures of 3 for 25, Archer deservedly won the man-of-the-match award.
Sandeep Sharma
Bowling wicket-to-wicket and varying his pace effectively, the seasoned Sandeep has once again proved why he is RR's go-to bowler.
Introduced into the attack in the fourth over, he struck with his third ball, dismissing Marcus Stoinis. He sent in a good length delivery on the off stump, and Stonis rushed to punch it but the ball went up hitting the bottom of the bat. Sandeep took a simple return catch to send him back to the dugout.
He conceded just five runs off his first over.
Bowling the seventh over, he continued to maintain a tight line and length, and conceded just four runs off it.
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In the 17th over, he got another wicket, dismissing Suryansh Shedge with a slower ball dug in short outside off. Shedge slashed but picked out Shimron Hetmyer manning the sweeper cover. Sandeep conceded only 6 runs off it including a wide.
Bowling the penultimate over, he varied his pace and made good use of knuckle balls, conceding just five runs off it.
Exploiting the conditions, he prevented Punjab batters from settling into a comfortable rhythm, and returned impressive figures of 2-21.
Maheesh Theekshana
Introduced into the attack in the fifth over, the Sri Lankan tied Punjab in knots, conceding just 26 runs from his four overs while accounting for two wickets.
With deceptive guile and trajectory, he made life difficult for Punjab batters, conceding eight runs off his first over and five off his second.
In his third over, he removed Glenn Maxwell with a carrom ball. It was in the slot and Maxwell sliced the loft with the bottom of the bat and ended up holing out to Yashasvi Jaiswal stationed at long-off.
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Maxwell was looking to up the ante and had hit Theekshana for two consecutive boundaries off the first two balls of the same over.
His final over was even more special. He conceded just three runs and picked up Marco Jansen's wicket. A full delivery on the off stump, which Jansen tried to heave flat but the ball went straight to Shimron Hetmyer at deep mid-wicket.
It was a good comeback by the wily mystery spinner after going wicketless against CSK in the previous match.
Photographs: BCCI
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