IPL 2023: Last-over hero Curran praises Prabhsimran for setting up Punjab win

Punjab Kings held their nerve in a last-over thriller to beat Rajasthan Royals by five runs in the Indian Premier League in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Having made an imposing 197 for 4 on the back of brilliant knocks from Prabhsimran Singh (60) and skipper Shikhar Dhawan (86 not out), Punjab bowlers managed to restrict the Royals to 192 for seven in 20 overs.

Shimron Hetmyer (36 off 18 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (32 not out off 15 balls) kept the Royals in the hunt, but a superb last over from Sam Curran, who gave away only 10 runs while defending 16, earned Punjab its second straight win in the tournament.

"I think when it comes to those situations, you know if you nail your yorker, you'll be okay. Some days it works and some days it won't but luckily it was our day," Curran said of his well executed yorkers in the final over of the match.

Earlier, Prabhsimran, who hit seven fours and three sixes, mercilessly punished the Rajasthan bowlers during the first 10 overs to bring up his IPL maiden fifty off 28 balls as Punjab was off to a rollicking start. He and Dhawan added 90 runs for the opening stand off just 61 balls.

"He (Prabhsimran) is been amazing. I was with him at Punjab four years ago. He was very young and is still young. The team got off to a great start. Hopefully it's the start of a great campaign for him and the runs keep coming because he's an amazing player," Curran said.

Dhawan switched gears effortlessly as he was 30 off 30 balls at one stage playing second fiddle to Prabhsimran. Once his opening partner was dismissed, Dhawan upped the ante as he scored 56 off next 26 balls that he faced.

The Punjab Kings skipper was dropped on 50 and made most of his reprieve as he played the role of sheet anchor, ensuring his team had enough runs on the board with dew setting in.

His innings was studded with nine fours and three maximums that came in the second half.

Prabhsimran started by smashing Trent Boult in the first over.

He followed that up by slapping a six over backward square off KM Asif in the second over. Dhawan joined the party briefly with back-to-back fours in the next over.

But the young opener was brutal on Asif, whom he hammered for three fours and a six in the fourth over. He also didn’t spare Boult and Ravichandran Ashwin.

The 22-year-old first smacked a length ball over mid off before cutting one behind point for a second boundary. He followed that up with a short-arm pull over the midwicket region for a maximum.