IPL 2021: Deepak Hooda, KL Rahul onslaught help Punjab Kings defeat Rajasthan Royals
Punjab Kings on Monday started their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign with a thumping four-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda were the stars for PBKS as they smashed 91 off 50 and 62 off 28 respectively to help Punjab Kings reach a mammoth total of 221/6 in 20 overs.
Rahul and Gayle show for PBKS (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
Punjab Kings were invited to bat first and were off to a shaky start as they lost opener Mayank Agarwal early in the innings. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul brought in the fireworks and stitched a crucial partnership to help PBKS build a solid base.
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Punjab Kings bowlers strike early (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
Rajasthan Royals started the 222-run chase on a torrid note as they lost opener Ben Stokes for a three-ball duck while Manan Vohra was dismissed for 12. Jos Buttler started promisingly as he smashed Riley Meredith for four consecutive boundaries but was soon sent packing by Jhye Richardson.
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Arshdeep Singh continues his good form (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
Arshdeep Singh continued his good run of form for Punjab Kings and got the big wickets of Manan Vohra and Shivam Dube at a crucial stage of the match. He later removed Sanju Samson in the last ball of the match to help Punjab Kings win the match.
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Sanju Samson with an expansive knock! (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag put the pressure back on Punjab Kings bowlers with some expansive shots in the middle overs as the duo took the chase deep.
Samson played a blinder of a knock and became the first debutant captain to score a century in IPL. However, his was dismissed in the last ball of the match when RR required six runs to win. Samson ended up with 119 runs off just 63 deliveries but wasn’t enough to take his team over the winning line.
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