RR vs PBKS Highlights, IPL 2025: Punjab Kings inches closer to playoffs spot with crucial win over Rajasthan Royals

RR vs PBKS IPL 2025 Live Score, Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings: Follow match updates

RR vs PBKS IPL 2025 Highlights, Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings: Harpreet Brar claimed three wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Riyan Parag to help Punjab Kings bounce back from a tricky position and claim a 10-run win. The visitors survived an early onslaught from the RR openers as they smashed 76 runs off just 4.5 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a half-century off 24 balls, but he was dismissed right after that, and the momentum shifted away. Young Vaibhav Suryavanshi also scored a quickfire 40 to impress many. Dhruv Jurel was another Royals batter who did put up a fightback with a half-century but it was too late for them.

 Nehal Wadhera put Punjab Kings back on track with a solid half-century, while Shashank Singh provided the finishing touch as they posted 219/5 in 20 overs. Wadhera smashed 70 runs off 37 balls, laced with five sixes and as many fours, while Shashank Singh scored 59 runs off 30 balls. Punjab Kings lost their top three - Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya and Mitchell Owen early in the powerplay. Tushar Deshpande was the pick of the bowlers so far with two scalps under his kitty. 

Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Sanju Samson confirmed at the toss that Vaibhav Suryavanshi will continue to open the innings for the Royals, and he will drop down to the number 3 spot. The much-awaited resumption of the IPL 2025 season didn’t quite go to plan, as the match between RCB and KKR was abandoned without a single delivery bowled due to bad weather. Hopefully, after what is now 10 days of waiting, fans will be able to see some IPL action back on their screens, this time in the first match of a Sunday double-header. In the baking heat of Jaipur, it is the Rajasthan Royals playing host to Punjab Kings, battling for a playoff spot.

The hosts have already been eliminated from contention after a season to forget, full of losses that should have been wins, every success matched by some sort of abject failure. Nevertheless, there is a lot to look forward to when RR play, in particular their terrific young opening combination. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been consistent through the season and just off the pace for the Orange Cap, being supported by the bold and fearless powerful hitting of Vaibhav Suryavanshi. There are a lot of players missing for RR as Jofra Archer doesn’t return for the last part of this tournament and Nitish Rana misses out through injury, but they are provided a boost through the likely return of captain Sanju Samson from injury. If Samson can slide into number three, RR look like a much more comfortable and dangerous batting order.

The question will be if they have enough bowling firepower to keep a destructive Punjab Kings team quiet. They had success last time out, as they beat PBKS which is retrospectively one of the bigger upsets of this tournament. But that was on the back of Jofra Archer wreaking havoc up front: with Archer missing, and Sandeep Sharma injured, the pace attack looks a little toothless. RR are mostly battling for pride, but some of the players on show will also be trying to prove a point: can they dig deep and find enough to overcome a team that looks bound for the playoffs?

Punjab Kings' strategy for playoff qualification

This is a game that Punjab Kings, meanwhile, will see as a must-win. Their last two games are tough assignments against Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, and they will want the buffer of being on 17 points heading into either of those games. The advantage for Punjab is that all three matches are set to be played in Jaipur, becoming a proxy home venue for them: they will have plenty of time to get accustomed to conditions and figure out what the best approach to games at this venue will be. PBKS aren’t officially through even if they win today, but you have to imagine there isn’t a world in which Shreyas Iyer’s men fail to make the playoffs if they win today, with the momentum that would give them.

Their intention will also be to finish in the top two. A win takes them comfortably into at least second place, while a big win might even push them above RCB on NRR. There is plenty of talent that has found a groove in Ricky Ponting’s team, and they’re difficult to bet against in this game, even if they lost the reverse fixture. That match was a long time ago as the tournament goes — but can RR match that gameplan, even with fewer resources at hand?

RR vs PBKS IPL 2025 match Highlights:

- Punjab Kings (219/5) beat Rajasthan Royals (209/7) by 10 runs in Jaipur.

- Dhruv Jurel hit fifty in 28 balls. Rajasthan Royals 195/5 in 18.3 overs vs Punjab Kings (219/5) in Jaipur.

- Harpreet Brar claimed three wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Riyan Parag to pull Punjab Kings back in the game.

- Yashasvi Jaiswal slammed fifty in 24 balls. Rajasthan Royals 106/1 in 8.1 overs vs Punjab Kings (219/5) in Jaipur.

- Punjab Kings posted 219/5 (N Wadhera 70, S Singh 59*; T Deshpande 2/37) in 20 overs vs Rajasthan Royals.

- Nehal Wadhera slammed fifty in 25 balls. Punjab Kings 126/4 in 12.3 overs vs Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.

- Riyan Parag provided the big breakthrough for Rajasthan Royals and got the big wicket of Shreyas Iyer for 30.

- Prabhsimran Singh dismissed for 21 as Punjab Kings lost three wickets inside the powerplay.

- Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.