Punjab Kings (PBKS) locked with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 4th match of the IPL 2021 and PBKS batsman Deepak Hooda managed to churn out a 20-ball half-century. After winning the toss, the new RR captain, Sanju Samson choose to bowl on a typical Wankhede pitch. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul then joined hands and added 67 runs in the next 7 overs after Agarwal’s early dismissal.

Rahul was looking as elegant as ever, holding one end up, but he kept on scoring at a brisk pace. Gayle fell to a smart ball by Riyan Parag for 40 off 28 balls, in which he completed 350 sixes in his IPL career,  the first man to do so in the history of the league. While RR had thought that the worse was over, in walked Deepak Hooda, who had the best time in the middle.

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Along with Rahul, Hooda played a flashy knock as they added as many as 113 runs for the third wicket before the latter getting out in the 18th over, then Nichol Pooran came when they were standing comfortably at 194/3. PBKS amassed as many as 221 for 6 wickets as KL Rahulgot out in the final over at 91. 

During the chase, RR lost Ben Stokes for a three-ball duck, however, Sanju Samson walked in with different ideas. Manan Vohra got a reprieve when Murugan Ashwin juggled a chance in the deep off Jhye Richardson, but he was eventually was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh, who took a sensational reflex catch. 

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RR was then dependent on Buttler and Samson’s partnership as they added 45 runs before Jhye Richardson dismissed Buttler. In the meantime, Samson kept on tonking the bowler as he completed a half-century from 33 balls then he added 53 runs with Shivam Dube for eth 4th wicket but the latter was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh.

Samson thwacked the pedal hard after Dube’s exit, as along with Riyan Parag, she added 52 off just 23 for the fifth wicket. Shami dismissed Rahul Tewatia, as Kl Rahul took the catch. The Royals needed 13 needed off the last over, which distilled down to 5 needed off the last ball. A heartbreak awaited Samson, who refused a single on the penultimate ball, as Deepak Hooda snaffled him to seal a 4-run win for Punjab.

Hits

KL Rahul

KL Rahul had a decent outing in the ODI series against England for India and he started right from where he left in Pune. He started smashing the RR bowlers from the word go as he played a match-winning knock of 50-ball 91 with the help of 7 fours and  5 sixes.

Deepak Hooda

After witnessing the forgettable outing in IPL 2020, Deepak Hooda was under some pressure to perform. However, he was in fine form towards the end of the last season and he continued his form by playing a flamboyant knock of 28-ball 64 with the help of 4 fours and 6 sixes.

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson was playing his first match for RR as the captain and there were a lot of expectations were on him and he delivered. The veteran IPL campaigner played a fiery knock of 63-ball 119 with the help of 12 fours and 7 sixes, but his knock went in vain. It’s the third-highest score by a wicket-keeper in IPL. He also received the man-of-the-match award.

Flops

Jhye Richardson

R Ashwin had a fairly decent outing for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020 as he scalped 15 wickets, but he witnessed a forgettable outing in IPl 2021 opener for his team. Ashwin gave away 47 runs in his quota of 4 fours and took a wicket of Moeen Ali.

S Gopal

After having a phenomenal outing in the limited-over series against England, Shardul Thakur was high-on confidence but he failed to deliver against DC, as he conceded 53 runs in 3.4 over with a consolation wicket of Shikhar Dhawan.