Punjab Kings (PBKS) stole the early march with the bat in their IPL 2025 game against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat first and saw young batter Nehal Wadhera come to the fore with the bat. The 24-year-old got to his second IPL fifty off just 25 balls with a four off Akash Madhwal’s bowling. Wadhera, who was playing for Mumbai Indians in the previous seasons, has been one of the consistent players for PBKS.
Wadhera came to bat at the fall of Prabhsimran Singh’s wicket in the fourth over. The 24-year-old got off the mark with a boundary in the final ball of the same over. The left-handed batter then hit his first six of the day in the sixth over off Fazalhaq Farooqi’s bowling. Once he got his eye in, Wadhera went after the bowlers and hit boundaries at regular intervals.
One of the best shots of the day came when Wadhera slammed Wanindu Hasaranga for a straight six down the ground. The 24-year-old also added 67 runs for the fourth wicket with skipper Shreyas Iyer in 44 balls. This partnership brought PBKS back into the game after losing three early wickets.
Tushar Deshpande’s early strikes help derail PBKS’ batting
Priyansh Arya got the game going with a four off the very first ball to signal his early intent. The left-handed batter was out for nine runs when he was caught by Shimron Hetmyer to give Tushar Deshpande his first wicket of the game. Prabhsimran Singh, who has been in awesome form this campaign, scored 21 off 10 balls with three fours and a six.
Australian batter Mitchell Owen was out for a second-ball duck when he tried to pull Kwena Maphaka. RR skipper Sanju Samson settled under the ball and took an easy catch to give the home team their second wicket of the day. Deshpande then struck for a second time when he convinced Samson to use the DRS against Prabhsimran Singh.
Tushar Deshpande strangled PBKS’ opening batter down the leg-side and Samson completed the catch. None of the RR players barring the bowler were interested in going for the review. Samson gave in to his bowler's demand and decided to use the review. Once the replays came on the screen, it was seen that the batter had indeed got an edge. The umpire overturned the decision much to the delight of the Royals players, leaving PBKS struggling at 34 for 3 in the fourth over.
/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/2025/05/18/3Ns09CHKhUJkbDpQP138.jpg)