IPL 2023: Jaiswal, Padikkal keep RR’s playoff hopes alive in thrilling win; PBKS officially out

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have kept their bid for the playoffs alive after a thrilling win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday, May 19. The four-wicket win has seen RR go fifth in the standings while PBKS are officially eliminated from the playoff race and cannot finish in the top four. Yashasvi Jaiswal (50) and Devdutt Padikkal (51) were the heroes of the match for RR while Shimron Hetmyer (46) played an important knock to take the visitors home. RR will now require a helping hand from Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to make the playoffs at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) expense.

RR make keep playoff hopes alive

For the second evening in a row, a score of 188 was chased successfully as RR needed some final over-thrills. The visiting side at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala started poorly after Jos Buttler was dismissed for a third consecutive duck in the second over. Jaiswal and Padikkal then played a useful knock as they stitched together a partnership of 73 runs to guide RR to a good chase.

However, quick-fire wickets for PBKS saw the home side come back into the contest with Sanju Samson (2) and Padikkal departing quickly. But an important partnership between Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag (20) took RR to a near win before PBKS lost its nerves in the final phase. On the fourth ball of the last over RR won the contest and kept their narrow hopes alive. The defeat also saw PBKS end the campaign on 12 points from 14 matches and were officially eliminated from the playoff race.

PBKS had the worst possible start in their do-or-die clash as Prabhsimran Singh lost his wicket in the first over. Trent Bould made a mark on his return in an instant. He took a diving catch to dismiss Prabhsimran for a score of 2(2). The hosts tried to rally up as PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Atharva Taide tried to launch a counter-attack in the second over of the match. Sandeep Sharma became their target as he ended up conceding 16 runs.

RR will now have to depend on GT beating RCB by a big margin while MI also losing to SRH on Sunday afternoon at the Wankhede Stadium in their final league games. This will result in RR ending with 14 points and a better net run rate and thus making the playoffs in fourth place.

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