Royal batting show ends PBKS's unbeaten run

Punjab Kings' unbeaten dominance in IPL 2026 was brought to a halt by Rajasthan Royals, whose batting at both ends powered them in their big chase in Mullanpur. Prabhsimran Singh scored another fifty and Marcus Stoinis bossed the death overs to take the hosts to 222/4, but Punjab's bowling came up short.

Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 222/4 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 62* off 22, Prabhsimran Singh 59 off 44; Yash Raj Punja 2-41) lost to Rajasthan Royals 228/4 in 19.2 overs (Donovan Ferreira 52* off 26, Yashasvi Jaiswal 51 off 27, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 43 off 16; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-36) by 6 wickets

Their top three – led by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – in the Powerplay, and the pair of Donovan Ferreira and impact substitute Shubham Dubey at the death sealed the chase.

How did the openers perform?

Lived up to the hype. Sooryavanshi, more than most.

Jofra Archer cranked up pace and got early swing. Nandre Burger bowled fast but was easy to pick, conceding 45 of the 65 runs in the Powerplay.

Sooryavanshi had no such troubles. After defending two away-swinging deliveries from Arshdeep Singh, he flicked his first six when Arshdeep switched to inswing. He then hit two fours in the same over. Lockie Ferguson also saw the ball fly – a wristy flick for six, then another off a knuckleball. Marco Jansen was hit over deep midwicket.

The trick was Arshdeep going round the stumps and angling it away. Sooryavanshi got a low full-toss, targeted the straight boundary but hit it to Shreyas Iyer, departing for a 16-ball 43.

RR didn't let the wicket dampen their spirits. Despite a fabulous first over from Harpreet Brar (two singles, four dots), RR reached 84/1 in six overs.

How did the chase progress in the middle?

Punjab spinners tidied up. Brar conceded just one four in his next two overs. Yuzvendra Chahal began with a five-run over and broke through – Dhruv Jurel found long on. Jaiswal reached his half-century but became Chahal's next victim, finding long off.

Riyan Parag showed signs of stepping up, hitting reverse-sweep sixes, but on the last ball of Chahal's spell, he hit straight to deep mid-wicket for a 16-ball 29.

How did RR still win?

Arshdeep bowled two ordinary overs as Ferreira and Dubey grew into the chase. A 14-run 15th over left RR with 58 off 30 balls. Marco Jansen conceded 15 in the next. Ferguson gave away eight, but Ferreira and Dubey took 17 off Arshdeep.

Ferreira then hit Ferguson for a six into the top-tier and two fours in the 19th over, leaving RR two away. He finished with a six in the last over for a 26-ball 52. Dubey remained unbeaten on 31* off 12 during a 77-run stand.

Through an Aussie carry job

Prabhsimran got to a half-century, but Cooper Connolly took on both RR spinners for 30 off 14. Shreyas Iyer looked scratchy for 30 off 27 before Stoinis's brute force pushed PBKS towards a big total. The final three overs yielded 55 runs.

Stoinis spared no one – Burger finished with 1/59, Archer got hit for two sixes, and Brijesh Sharma gave away 24 in his final over to finish 0-42. It looked like PBKS had revived just in time, but it wasn't to be.

RR head home to Jaipur to meet Delhi Capitals on May 1. PBKS take on GT in Ahmedabad on May 3.