IPL-17, RR vs PBKS: Curran & Co. put a spanner on RR’s top-two prospects

Sam Curran leads Punjab Kings to victory with disciplined bowling against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

When Sam Curran said ‘we can spoil a few campaigns now’ at the toss on Wednesday, it wasn’t in jest.

The skipper of the already-eliminated Punjab Kings showed he meant business as his side beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets, extending Sanju Samson & Co.’s wait to confirm a top-two finish in IPL 2024.

Leading by example, Curran played a match-winning hand at the Barsapara Stadium here, scoring an unbeaten 41-ball 63 after picking two wickets to help PBKS’ efforts to avoid the wooden spoon.

In response to RR’s 144 for nine, the visitor got off to a confident start despite losing Prabhsimran Singh early.

But with Rilee Rossouw and Shashank Singh’s wickets in the fifth over, Avesh Khan injected belief into the crowd.

PBKS, which was at 35 for one at the end of four overs, was reduced to 39 for three after the PowerPlay.

Jonny Bairstow’s wicket followed shortly after when Donovan Ferreira and Riyan Parag combined to take a relay catch near the skirting.