Watch: RR Star Shimron Hetmyer In Verbal Spat with PBKS' Sam Curran, Antics With Bat Goes Viral

20.05.2023 - 04:41 sports.ndtv.com

Rajasthan Royals remained alive in the IPL 2023 playoff race as they beat Punjab Kings by four wickets on Friday. With the win, RR have reached the fifth spot with 14 points from as many games.

Though their fate does no longer lie in their own hands, they still can advance to the playoffs with other results going their way.

The match was fought on till the last over but Dhruv Jurel's final over six clinched the victory for Rajasthan Royals at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday.

The match was also witness to an unusual event as RR's star batter Shimron Hetmyer and PBKS allrounder Sam Curran got involved in a war of words.

cricket watch Rajasthan Royals Punjab Kings Sam Curran Shimron Hetmyer

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson remains one of the most popular Indian players of his generation. Though Samson hasn't been able to cement his spot in the Indian team in any of the three formats, he remains a player who has struggled to hit his full potential. Seeing the wicket-keeper batter struggle for consistentency in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, even Sunil Gavaskar got in touch with Samson, lending him important advice. As per S Sreesanth, however, Samson refused to do what Gavaskar had told him.

On Yashavi Jaiswal's Calmness In Batting, Suresh Raina Credits Sri Lanka Legend

Rajasthan Royals pulled off a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings in Match No. 66 of IPL 2023 in Dharamsala on Friday night to theoretically stay in contention for a play-off place. Set a tricky target of 188 for victory, the Royals, reached 189/6 in 19.4 overs with Shimron Hetmyer scoring 46, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal hitting 50 and Devdutt Padikkal hammering 51. Earlier, PBKS scored 187/5 thanks largely to the efforts of Sam Curran 49 not out, Jitesh Sharma 44 and M Shahrukh Khan 41 not out.

Sam Curran-Shahrukh Khan Stitch PBKS' Highest Partnership For 6th Wicket In IPL History

Punjab Kings batters Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan made history on Friday by forming the highest sixth-wicket partnership for their side in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Curran-Shahrukh achieved this during their side's IPL 2023 match against Rajasthan Royals in Dharamshala. The duo formed an unbeaten 73-run stand for the sixth wicket in just 37 balls. They outdid KL Rahul and Harpreet Brar, who formed a 61-run stand for PBKS against RCB in 2021. KL Rahul and Prabhsimran Singh were also involved in a 53-run stand for the sixth wicket against Sunrisers Hyderabad in August 2019. Lastly, Shahrukh was also involved in an unbeaten 52-run stand with Odean Smith for the sixth wicket against RCB in 2022.

Jos Buttler Sets Unwanted Record In IPL With 5th Duck In IPL 2023

Rajasthan Royals (RR) star batter Jos Buttler registered an unwanted batting record on Friday, becoming a player with the most ducks in a single season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The batter registered this record during the match against Punjab Kings in Dharamshala. In the match, he was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada for a three-ball duck. This is his fifth duck in this season. There are some batters who have scored four ducks in a single IPL season: Herchelle Gibbs (Deccan Chargers, 2009), Mithun Manhas (Pune Warriors India, 2011), Manish Pandey (Pune Warriors India, 2012), Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi Capitals, 2020), Eoin Morgan (Kolkata Knight Riders, 2021) and Nicholas Pooran (Punjab Kings, 2021).

"Definitely Underperformed": PBKS Batting Coach Wasim Jaffer Left Frustrated After Shikhar Dhawan-led Team's IPL 2023 Exit

Punjab Kings batting coach Wasim Jaffer has been left frustrated with the performance of his bowlers, saying they "didn't live up to the expectations" this IPL season. The Punjab franchise began their campaign promising a lot but ended up making an early exit, winning just six of the 14 matches they played. The former India cricketer's dissatisfaction with the bowlers' performance came to the fore following a four-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals here on Friday, which ended PBKS' slim hopes of making it to the playoffs despite have a potent bowling attack, including Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran.

Watch: PBKS Star Liam Livingstone Is All Smiles After Getting Bowled vs RR In IPL 2023 Game. Ex-India Players Unimpressed

Punjab Kings on Friday became the third team to be knocked out of the IPL 2023 after losing to Rajasthan Royals in a home match in Dharamsala on Saturday. Batting first, they set a 188-run target for RR before the visiting team reached the target in 19.4 overs. The start to PBKS' innings was poor as their top-order batters misfired. Much was expected from the big-hitting Liam Livingstone but he failed to deliver. He fell on just nine while trying to go for a hoick against Navdeep Saini and got bowled. He could be seen smiling after getting bowled. Former India cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Harbhajan Singh were clearly not impressed with the act. Yusuf went to the extent of saying that had they been in the PBKS set up, they would not have picked for laughing after playing a poor shot.