New Chandigarh, April 28 (IANS) A late blitz from Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (62 off 22 deliveries) and Prabhsimaran Singh’s 59 helped Punjab Kings reach 222/4 in 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals in Match 40 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh.

Prabhsimran Singh led by example with a determined half-century, helping Punjab Kings stabilise their innings after a strong start and guiding them through the middle phase before he was finally dismissed.

Punjab started aggressively, even though Jofra Archer is known for making early breakthroughs. While Archer didn’t take a wicket in the first over, Prabhsimran hit a boundary, bringing the score to 8/0. Meanwhile, Priyansh Arya made a spectacular contribution. With a Power-play strike rate of 260.27, Arya attacked Nandre Burger fearlessly, including an incredible backfoot six over covers. Burger ended up giving away 21 runs in one over.

The battle between Arya and Archer was intense. After surviving a couple of chances, one in the vacant slip and another that was dropped, Arya kept attacking until Archer delivered a 150.1 kph ball to get him out, ending Arya’s rapid innings and winning their duel.

With Arya out, Prabhsimran took control. He maintained his aggressive style with a powerplay strike rate of 188.57, targeting Burger again and scoring 19 runs off 10 balls, helping PBKS reach 65/1 by the end of the powerplay. Burger had a rough outing, giving up 45 runs in his first three overs, while Archer and Brijesh Sharma kept it tighter.

Prabhsimran continued to apply pressure in the middle overs, facing both pace and spin. He hit a straight six and a huge shot over deep midwicket against the inexperienced Punja. He then went after Ravindra Jadeja with clean hitting down the ground and through the offside.

However, wickets fell at the other end. Punja took two wickets, first dismissing Cooper Connolly with a well-disguised googly that led to a mistimed shot, showing promising control despite earlier giving up boundaries.

Meanwhile, Prabhsimran reached his fourth fifty of the season, achieving the milestone in 35 balls. Although it wasn’t his smoothest innings, reflected in a control percentage of 78, he fought through edges and mistimed shots to hold the innings together after Arya’s dismissal. He moved into the 40s with two boundaries off Archer and completed his fifty with a single off Jadeja.

Punja returned and made the breakthrough, getting Prabhsimran out after a key knock of 57, finishing with figures of 2/41. Skipper Iyer struggled, continued from the other side, ultimately falling to Burger for 30 off 27 deliveries.

Rajasthan Royals bowlers regrouped in the middle overs. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 0/32, Punja had 2/41, and Brijesh Sharma ended with 0/42, all maintaining control with disciplined spells. Jofra Archer recorded 1/40. However, Marcus Stoinis changed the game at the end.

He scored 24 runs in the final over off Archer, hitting two sixes and three fours. Earlier, Stoinis teamed up with skipper Shreyas Iyer for a 37-run partnership. Iyer scored 30 off 27 balls and struggled with timing. Stoinis then delivered an amazing unbeaten 62 off 22 balls, which included four fours and six sixes, helping Punjab Kings surpass the 200-run mark.

Marcis Stoinis smoked back-to-back sixes to Archer in the 19th over and then came back to hurt Brijesh Sharma, who was having a good evening. Sharma, who started with a dot, was punished for back-to-back maximums, only to be followed by back-to-back boundaries by Stoinis, who finished on 62 off 22 deliveries.

Brief scores:

Punjab Kings 222/4 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 62, Prabhsmiran Singh 59; Yash Punja 2-41, Jofra Archer 1-40) against Rajasthan Royals.

–IANS

hr/bsk/