🏏 Royals' Royal Performance in Mullanpur ✅ Wishlist: Jaiswal, Archer, Theekshana, Hasaranga – all delivered Yashasvi Jaiswal finally got going this season. After a few low scores, he shook off the rust with a well-paced knock that combined flair and firepower. Sanju Samson looked composed in his return as captain, anchoring early and rotating strike smartly. Jofra Archer was breathing fire. His first over essentially broke PBKS’s back with two wickets in six balls, and that pace + movement combo was just 🔥. Theekshana & Hasaranga – the spin twins – choked PBKS just as their middle-order looked to launch. Their double punch broke the biggest stand and crushed any hope of a PBKS comeback. 🔥 The Jaiswal-Samson Foundation Early on, Jaiswal was lucky to survive a few mishits, but once he got those two sixes off Jansen, he was locked in. RR’s first wicketless powerplay of the season (53/0) was a huge psychological win. And having Samson back as a full-time player and skipper clearly made a difference. 😬 PBKS: Reality Check at Home After a strong start to the season, PBKS were humbled on home turf. Archer's spell and RR's early strikes left them reeling at 4 down in 7 overs. Nehal Wadhera and Glenn Maxwell’s 88-run stand gave them hope, but that hope quickly disappeared once the spinners came on. 📉 Only one boundary in the last 5.4 overs? That sums it up – they were choked, outplayed, and couldn’t recover. 🏁 Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 50 runs First team to score 200+ at Mullanpur this IPL, and they defended it like pros. This was a masterclass in adapting to the pitch and pacing the innings. PBKS may have clawed back with slower balls in the middle, but RR’s adaptability – both with the bat and ball – sealed it. Let’s break it down a bit more: 🧤 PBKS Fight Back – But Only Briefly Powerplay: 40/0 after 4 overs – RR flying. But overs 5 to 10: just 45 runs – a solid comeback by PBKS, with: Yuzvendra Chahal bringing his classic control and tempting lines. Lockie Ferguson and Marcus Stoinis executing cutters and slower balls on a grippy, two-paced pitch. It was vintage PBKS bowling: mixing up pace, reading the surface, and pulling RR back into a more competitive zone. 🚀 Jaiswal’s Grit Turns to Gold From 46 off 39 (a strike rate just under 120), Jaiswal flipped the switch. Back-to-back six and four off Chahal and Stoinis in overs 12 and 13 got RR surging again. His dismissal – a well-set-up knuckleball by Ferguson – was clever, but Jaiswal’s 67 off 45 had already done the damage. 🔥 Parag’s Finishing Spree Started slow, looked out of sync… then found that extra second in his batting rhythm. From 12 off 14 to 43 off 25 – elite acceleration. Those back-to-back boundaries off Arshdeep were momentum-shifters. His ability to hold his shape under pressure is really starting to show this season. 💥 RR’s Big Finish Final overs: pure carnage. Stoinis: 2 overs for 12 at first… then gets hammered for 36 in his last two. That tells you how much RR adjusted and how well they read the pitch. RR turned what looked like a par 170 into 205, thanks to contributions from Rana, Hetmyer, and Jurel late on. 🎯 Archer: A Bowler’s Dream Start That first ball to Priyansh Arya? Absolutely magical: 144.6 kph Late seam movement Top of off stump Textbook Jofra Archer. The kind of delivery bowlers dream of and batters dread. That middle phase really told the story — just when PBKS started to believe, RR's spinners shut the door with surgical precision. 🌀 The Sri Lankan Duo Step Up Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga showed exactly why they’re rated so highly in T20s: Bowling wide, slower, and flat — daring the batters to take risks against unfavorable angles. In overs 11-12 and 15-16, they combined to give away just 28 runs and pick up both set batters. It wasn’t just about containment — it was about calculated pressure. 💥 PBKS' Flash of Hope Kartikeya’s 19-run over in the 10th had tilted momentum slightly. Maxwell’s reverse sweeps and Wadhera’s clean fifty off 33 balls had RR slightly nervous. By the 15th over, PBKS needed around 10 an over, and the crowd was back in it. But then came the double strike: Maxwell: tried to break the rhythm, fell to a wide delivery — classic trap. Wadhera: fell early next over, taking on the wrong ball. And with that, the chase completely unraveled. 🧩 Tactical Masterclass Sanju Samson used his resources expertly — kept both wristies on in tandem through the critical 10–16 over window. On a surface slowing down, that killed PBKS’ timing, rhythm, and hope. Final takeaway: PBKS threatened, but RR out-thought them, especially with the ball. The best T20 teams don’t just attack — they know when to defend and how to make even modest totals look huge.