Punjab Kings beat Rajasthan Royals in Match 8 of the TATA IPL 2023 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati to make it two wins in two and jump to second in the table.

Captain Shikhar Dhawan led from the front with a perfectly paced 86* off 56 balls after an explosive start by Prabhsimran Singh (60 off 34) as PBKS posted a competitive 197/4. Nathan Ellis then bowled an incisive spell of 4/30 while Curran held his nerve and defended 16 off the last over to help PBKS win by five runs in a tense finish after Hetmyer (36 off 18) and Dhruv Jurel (32* off 15) had led RR's fightback.

Chasing 198, R Ashwin walked out to open along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. The latter started off in style as he pulled the first ball of the innings over deep square leg for a six. He welcomed Arshdeep Singh into the attack with a four. However, the PBKS pacer bounced back to dismiss him in the same over, having him caught at short extra cover. Buttler walked out to bat at No. 3 and was up and running straightaway crunching one through covers for three.

Buttler then got lucky as he mistimed a pull off Curran but Harpreet Brar in the deep dropped a tough catch. The next ball was middled though as he smacked a pull over mid-wicket for a four.

Arshdeep struck again in his second over as he had Ashwin caught at mid on for a duck.

Sanju Samson got off the mark in style, lofting one straight down the ground for a six off Arshdeep. It was sort of a roller-coaster over for Arshdeep as Buttler ended the over with a six over long off to make it 14 runs and a wicket off the over.

Samson took the attack to Harpreet Brar in the next over, hitting two consecutive fours fours. And he welcomed Nathan Ellis into the attack with a thumping shot over covers for a four and then placed one through point for consecutive fours. However Ellis struck back hard as he had Buttler (19 off 11) caught and bowled two balls later. Buttler looked to whip one but got an inside edge onto the pads, the ball lobbed up and Ellis charged forward on the follow through to take a really good catch.

RR reached 57/3 at the end of the Powerplay.

Samson and Devdutt Padikkal steadied the ship with a 34-run stand off 32 balls however, they lost Samson at a crucial juncture as Ellis returned to bowl a fantastic over, give away just two off the first five balls, build the pressure and have Samson (42 off 25) caught at long off.

Riyan Parag released some pressure with a slew of boundaries. He smacked a six each off Chahar and Raza and then pulled one off Arshdeep for a four.

Parag though couldn't carry on the hitting for long as he holed out to long off, off Ellis for 20(12). The Australian pacer once again provided a wicket when the team needed. Ellis again used the cross-seam delivery to good effect as he cleaned up Devdutt Padikkal(21 from 26) in the same over to dent RR and reduce them to 124/6 in the 15th over.

PBKS introduced Rishi Dhawan as their Impact Player, replacing Prabhsimran Singh.

With the required run-rate creeping up and 69 needed off 24, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel upped the scoring as they both hit a six each off Ellis' final over to garner 16 runs.

Hetmyer then swung a couple of sixes over leg side and cracked one through extra cover for a four off Curran to make it 19 off the over and bring the equation down to 34 needed off 12.

Dhruv Jurel then joined the party as he lofted one over mid off for a four, then smashed one over deep extra cover for a six and then scooped one to fine leg for a four. Hetmyer then miscued a high full toss to deep mid-wicket where Ellis dropped a tough catch as they scampered through for two and made it 18 from the over.

With 16 needed off the last over, Curran bowled excellent first three balls and gave away just four runs which included the huge wicket of Hetmyer 36(18) who was run out trying to go for a non-existent second run. With 12 required off two, Curran again bowled a clever wide delivery as Jurel shuffled way across for a scoop but missed and they ran through for a bye. With 11 needed off two balls, Curran held his nerve and gave away a single and a four as PBKS won the match by 5 runs. Impact Player Jurel remained unbeaten on 32 off 15 balls.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl. Both teams went unchanged. They named Akash Vashisht, Dhruv Jhurel, Murugan Ashwin, Kuldip Yadav and Donovan Ferreira as their substitutes.

PBKS, on the other hand, named Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Mohit Rathee as their substitutes.

The PBKS openers got off to a brisk start. Prabhsimran Singh was looking to take the aggressive route right from the start and he opened the team's boundary account as he lofted one over extra cover off Trent Boult for a four in the first over. He hit the first maximum as well, shuffling across and heaving one over deep backward square leg, off KM Asif. Captain Shikhar Dhawan got into the groove with consecutive well-placed fours off Boult in the third over.

Prabhsimran Singh went from strength to strength as he made good adjustments and hit a flat-batted four over long off and placed one through backward point for another four, off Asif. He then pulled a short one over deep mid-wicket for a massive six next ball and then cracked one through extra cover for a four to make it 19 off the over.

R Ashwin was next on Prabhsimran's hit list as he hit consecutive fours off the off-spinner to bring up PBKS' fifty in the fifth over. Prabhsimran looked to take on Holder as well and hit a four over covers but he presented half a chance to Holder off the final ball of the over he smashed one to extra cover where it burst through the hands of Devdutt Padikkal. It was a very tough chance with the ball hit very hard. PBKS had a good Powerplay, reaching 63/0 at the end of six overs.

The next few overs brought a start-stop phase for PBKS after consistent momentum in the Powerplay. Ashwin pulled things back a bit, giving away just five off the seventh over. Prabhsimran then brought up his maiden IPL fifty off 28 balls. The duo picked up the scoring again but Holder provided some relief to RR as he broke the partnership and had Prabhsimran caught at long off for 60(34). Buttler pulled off a brilliant diving catch charging forward.

PBKS then received another blow as Bhanuka Rajapaksa walked back retired hurt after Dhawan smacked one back and it hit Rajapaksa on his hand as he looked to take the evasive action.
 
After a tight three-run over from Ashwin, Jitesh Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan went after Yuzvendra Chahal and hit him for two fours and a six to make it 18 runs off the over. Dhawan continued to attack Chahal as he hammered a couple of fours through to leg side to bring up his fifty off 36 balls. Dhawan then went for another one but miscued it high in the air, Chahal ran backwards but couldn't manage to reach it. Dhawan then thumped the third four of the over as he launched one over extra cover off the last ball to make it 16 runs off the over.

Dhawan and Jitesh brought up the 50-run stand, off 26 balls as PBKS brought up their 150 in the 15th over. While he went for runs, Chahal finally broke the 66-run stand as he had Jitesh (27) caught at long off in the 16th over.

RR brought on Dhruv Jurel as their Impact Player in place of Yuzvendra Chahal who completed his quota of four overs.

Ashwin, who had bowled brilliantly in the match so far, got his first wicket as he cleaned up Sikandar Raza with a carrom ball. He finished with fantastic figures of 4-0-25-1.

RR clawed back in the match as they gave away just 22 runs and picked up two wickets in the 16 to 18 over phase.

PBKS got back on track as Dhawan took the attack to KM Asif in the penultimate over, hitting a six and a four and accumulating 16 off the over.

Holder bowled a very good final over, giving away just seven runs and scalping the wicket of Shahrukh Khan as PBKS posted 197/4. Buttler took another brilliant catch in that over but immediately went off the field. Shikhar Dhawan remained unbeaten on 86 off 56 balls. Holder finished with impressive figures of 4-0-29-2.