Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings IPL 2023 Highlights: Openers Shikhar Dhawan (86*) and Prabhsimran Singh (60) led the way from the front against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati as Punjab Kings scored 197/4 in their quota of 20 overs after being put in to bat first by RR skipper Sanju Samson on Wednesday.
With RR playing two of their ‘home’ matches in the Northeastern city, a winning performance from Samson’s side will not only build their brand value in Guwahati, it will also expand their fan base in the region, which has seen precious little IPL action over the years.
Playing XIs: Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh; Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, KM Asif, Yuzvendra Chahal
Indian Premier League, 2023 – Match 8
Rajasthan Royals 197/4 (20.0) vs Punjab Kings 197/4 (20.0)
Nathan Ellis is player of the match
Ellis: Just stoked to get the win, pleased to get some awards but from a team’s point of view nice to get that win. In T20 every ball counts, staying in the moment is really the key. When I was bowling in the backend, I was trying to get my variations right and calculate what the best ball is at that time. For me it’s cross-seam and it worked out really well tonight.
Shikhar Dhawan admits to ‘nervous moments’ at the end
“There were some nervous moments, I was trying to keep my calm and discussing plans with my bowlers. Was happy with the score we put up. We scoring 197 and my bowlers giving those early wickets and then Nathan came in and bowled supebly. It was a full team effort. These 2 games we got a great start, Prabh did really well and I tried my best to increase my strike-rate. We want to keep the momentum going as we got a good batting line-up. We respect the opponents’ bowlers but want to keep the intent and aggression going,” admits Shikhar Dhawan, the captain of the Punjab Kings.
