Images from the IPL 2025 match between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Sunday.
Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar bowled a match-turning spell after Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh made bruising fifties as Punjab Kings edged closer to an IPL play-off berth with a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Sunday.
Brar, who came in as the Impact Substitute for skipper Shreyas Iyer -- who suffered a finger injury -- was introduced in the fifth over and the left-arm spinner walked away with an impressive 3/22 in four overs, helping PBKS to restrict RR to 209/7 in the chase of 220.
Punjab Kings had posted a hefty 219/5 riding on an unbeaten on 59 off 30 deliveries by Shashank and a brilliant 70 from 37 balls by Wadhera.
With this win, PBKS (NRR: +0.38) climbed to 17 points and they are second on the table behind leaders Royal Challengers Bengaluru (17 points, +0.48) on net run rate difference.
The Ricky Ponting-coached side needs just one more point to secure a play-off berth for the first time since 2014.
Brar, who mixed up his angles, trajectory, and pace with precision, played a big part in that.
His scalps included the 14-year-old sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40 off 15) and Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had launched a brutal assault up front with his (50 off 24).
Together they flew off the blocks with a stand off 76 runs in just 4.1 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai (2/44) then landed a double blow, sending back skipper Sanju Samson (20 off 16) and Shimron Hetmyer (11 off 12), as RR's chase lost steam.
Dhruv Jurel (53 off 31 balls; 3x4, 4x6) hit form to score his second fifty of the season but it went in vain as Marco Jansen (2/41 in three overs) removed him and Wanindu Hasaranga in successive balls in the last over to end their chase.
Jaiswal was in explosive form from the outset, smashing four fours and a six off Arshdeep Singh's first over. Suryavanshi matched him stroke for stroke, cracking two sixes and a four off Jansen.
RR raced to 51 for no loss in just three overs -- 50 of those runs coming in boundaries, and one via a wide.
Suryavanshi continued his fireworks with back-to-back sixes off Arshdeep, helping RR storm to 76 in just 29 balls.
However, Brar's introduction proved decisive, as he first removed Suryavanshi and then dismissed Jaiswal, who fell immediately after completing his sixth fifty of the season.
Punjab Kings kept chipping away at the wickets in the middle overs as the Royals lost momentum and couldn't really make a comeback despite Jurel's fifty.
Earlier, fiery half-centuries from Wadhera and Shashank powered PBKS to a commanding total.
Opting to bat, PBKS made a quick start but lost Priyansh Arya in the second over when the opener chipped in a simple catch to Shimron Hetmyer off the bowling of Tushar Deshpande (2/37).
But Prabhsimran Singh continued his onslaught as he hit Kwena Maphaka for a four and six in the next over.
PBKS, however, kept on losing wickets as Mitchell Owen's IPL debut ended in a two-ball duck when he skied Maphaka delivery to RR skipper Sanju Samson.
The script became worse for PBKS when a dangerous-looking Prabhsimran departed in the first delivery of the next over when he got a thing edge while trying to glance a Deshpande. The on-field umpire didn't give out initially but Samson, who took the catch behind the stumps, went for the review and the decision was reversed.
But then PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer and Nehal Wadhera joined hands nd shared quick 67 runs for the fourth wicket in just 44 balls to keep up the scoring rate.
Iyer looked in fine nick during his 25-ball 30, which was laced with five boundaries. However, he lost his wicket out of nowhere as he holed out Riyan Parag delivery straight into the hands of Yashasvi Jaiswal at long-off.
Wadhera, on the other hand, was going great guns, even though he got a reprieve on 47 when he was dropped by Wanindu Hasaranga off his own bowling in the 12th over.
Wadhera cashed in on the chance and pulled Akash Madhwal to backward square leg fence to bring up his fifty in just 25 balls.
The left-hander didn't stop there and clobbered Madhwal for a maximum in the next ball. Wadhera was particularly lethal on the leg side as he hit most of his four and sixes in that area.
Wadhera's fine knock was cut short when he sliced a Madhwal delivery to Hetmyer while looking to clear the fence for a consecutive time.
Towards the end, Azmatullah Omarzai also played a good hand with an unbeaten cameo of 21 from nine balls.
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