IPL 2023 season is slowly gaining momentum. The league matches of the second round have started in the tournament. In such a situation, whatever results are coming, its effect is directly visible in the points table. The match played between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings on Wednesday also showed a similar effect, where Shikhar Dhawan's captaincy Punjab won. Punjab not only left Rajasthan behind in the match but also went ahead of them in the points table.
ICYMI - Nathan Ellis grabs a stunner to get the in form batter, Jos Buttler.
Watch it here #TATAIPL #RRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/rbt0CJRyLe — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2023
As expected, the IPL match played for the first time in Guwahati was full of excitement. The match could be decided on the very last ball. Punjab had scored 197 runs while batting first. In response, Rajasthan could only reach 192 runs and lost by 5 runs. Captain Shikhar Dhawan's 86 runs and Nathan Ellis's 4 wickets contributed a lot in the victory of Punjab.
High jump of Punjab
With this, Punjab won both its matches and now it has 4 points. Although the margin of victory was not very big in such a situation it could not leave behind Gujarat Titans, which itself is in first place by winning both matches. In the net run rate race, Gujarat (0.700) is currently only slightly ahead of Punjab (0.333). Nevertheless, with this victory, Punjab has taken a big leap. She has now reached the second place from fifth.
That's that from Match 8. @PunjabKingsIPL win their second game on the trot as they beat #RR by 5 runs.
Scorecard - https://t.co/Cmk3rElYKu #TATAIPL #RRvPBKS #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/R9j1jFpt5C — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2023
At the same time, after this defeat, Rajasthan (1.675) slipped from second to fourth place. His NRR has come down from Royal Challengers Bangalore (1.981) and hence Bangalore has come in third place. Both have two points each.
Bangalore will become number-1 one?
Bangalore now has a chance to get the first position. Thursday means today he is facing Kolkata Knight Riders. If Bangalore wins this match to be held at Eden Gardens, then it can snatch first place from Gujarat. At the same time, Kolkata will be eyeing to open its account in this match. He got defeated by Punjab in the first match itself.