Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan looking to carry on the momentum in IPL 2023 after defeating RR

Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings defeated Rajasthan Royals by 5 runs in Guwahati.

Punjab Kings have begun their IPL 2023 in style with back to back wins in their first two games. Punjab in a crunch game against Rajasthan Royals came out victorious by just 5 runs. Once cruising towards a big dominating win, Punjab lost momentum against the Royals Lower order. Dhruv Jurel with his 32 runs inning in 15 balls scared Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan for a few minutes. Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer’s 62 runs partnership took the limelight away from everyone else in this game. Punjab Kings scored 197 runs with the help of their openers.

Royals defend their move to send Ravi Ashwin as Opener

Pacer Nathan Ellis with his 4 wickets spell rattled the Rajasthan Royals and derailed their chase of 198. Arshdeep continued with his favorite job of picking early wickets. Rajasthan Royals had to send R Ashwin as an opener due to Buttler’s injury. Butter later came in at Number 3. Captain Sanju Samson defended Rajasthan's move of sending Ashwin as an opener. He said, “Jos was not fully fit, the thought behind keeping Padikkal was to tackle their two spinners in the middle overs”. Sanju also praised Dhruv Jurel’s effort at the end. He said that the team has worked a lot behind him and they are happy with his performance.

Captain Shikhar Dhawan looks to carry on with the momentum

Winning Captain Shikhar Dhawan had some moments to reflect on the business end of the game. Dhruv and Hetmyer brought tension in the PBKS dugout. Captain Dhawan talking about the last few overs said, “There were some nervous moments, I was trying to keep my calm and kept discussing the plans with the bowlers”. This is for the third time in IPL that Punjab Kings had won their first two games. Dhawan Said, “We just want to keep the momentum going with the team we have”. Punjab is one of the top favorites to lift IPL 2023.

Pace bowler Nathan Ellis was awarded Player of the Match for his 4 wickets spell. Arshdeep provided Punjab Kings early breakthroughs and Ellis put the RR's middle order on the back foot. Nathan Ellis talked about his success against Royals batters, he said, “I was trying to get my variations right and calculate what is the best ball at that time. For me it’s Cross seam and it worked well for me”. Ellis in his 4 overs gave 30 runs and picked up 4 wickets.

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