GUWAHATI, India: Skipper Sam Curran starred with bat and ball as Punjab Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets for a consolation win in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Chasing a tricky 145 on a sluggish pitch, Punjab depended on Curran’s unbeaten 63 to achieve their target with seven balls to spare in Rajasthan’s adopted home ground in Guwahati.
Left-handed Curran put on a key 63-run stand with Jitesh Sharma, who made 22, and despite losing his partner in the 16th over steered the team home to lift them from the bottom of the 10-team table.
Impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma smashed 17 and the winning run to hand Rajasthan their fourth successive defeat in this edition of the T20 tournament.
“To be very honest, we have to sit back and accept that we are going through some failures,” Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson said.
“You have to find out what’s not working well as a team. When you are getting to the business end, we need someone to raise their finger up and say I am going to win the game for the team. We have the players who can do that.”
The loss for Rajasthan hurt their chances of a top-two finish in the league stage a day after they confirmed their play-off spot.
Rajasthan, who stay in second place with one game in hand, and table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders are the only two teams to have booked their play-off berth.
The top four teams make the play-offs, but the first and second-placed sides have the advantage of two chances to qualify for the final on May 26 in Chennai.
Punjab, who had already bowed out of the play-off race, kept the opposition down to 144-9 despite a 34-ball 48 by Riyan Parag.
Left-arm quick Curran bowled Yashasvi Jaiswal, for four, in the first over and then Samson departed for 18 off Nathan Ellis after a slow start.
Parag found Ravichandran Ashwin, who hit 28 off 19 balls, for company and the two attempted to push the scoring in their partnership of 50.
The rest of the batting faltered against a disciplined attack as Curran, fellow quick Harshal Patel and spinner Rahul Chahal took two wickets each.
![]()
Curran stars for Punjab as Rajasthan lose four in row
Short Url
https://arab.news/pgbu6
Curran stars for Punjab as Rajasthan lose four in row
- Chasing a tricky 145 on a sluggish pitch, Punjab depended on Curran’s unbeaten 63 to achieve their target
- Impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma smashed 17 and the winning run to hand Rajasthan their fourth successive defeat
Salford ‘way more prepared’ for Man City rematch says manager
- Karl Robinson is adamant Salford will be a better side when they return to the scene of last season’s 8-0 defeat by Manchester City
LONDON: Karl Robinson is adamant Salford will be a better side when they return to the scene of last season’s 8-0 defeat by Manchester City.
The fourth-tier club side were thrashed by Pep Guardiola’s men in an FA Cup third-round tie at the Etihad Stadium.
They will now make the same short journey in England’s northwest in the fourth round on Saturday and the Salford manager is confident of a very different game.
“Last year was really emotional,” said Robinson. “It wasn’t too long ago our owners were leaning on iron bars watching non-league football.
“To then walk out at the Etihad in front of 60,000 with their football club was incredible. That’s the journey of all journeys.
“This year we have other things to worry about. We have a different mindset. We’ve learned from last year. We’ll be way more prepared.”
Playing City in the FA Cup was an indication of Salford’s rise through the ranks of English football from non-league level, with their ascent propelled by their takeover by a group of former Manchester United stars from the celebrated ‘Class of 92’.
Salford are now in their seventh successive campaign in League Two, with the ownership changing last year as a new consortium fronted by Gary Neville and David Beckham bought out their former Old Trafford teammates.
Forging their own identity in the shadow of some of England’s leading clubs is an issue for Salford, who will revert to their traditional orange kit after the ‘Class of 92’ brought in a red and white strip.
“Salford is a proper football club and that’s our message going into this game,” said Robinson.
“Last year we wore the red kit but we’ll wear our away kit this year, just to signify it’s a new era. We do sit separate to City and United. We have our own identity.
“We’re a completely different football club now.”
For all Robinson’s renewed optimism, City thrashed League One Exeter 10-1 in the last round of the FA Cup.
But he insisted: “There’s always hope, there’s always a possibility. You don’t know 100 percent. You might know the odds are 99.9 percent against, but there’s still that chance.
“Everyone goes to bed the night before with that thought of ‘what if?’, and that’s exciting.”
The fourth-tier club side were thrashed by Pep Guardiola’s men in an FA Cup third-round tie at the Etihad Stadium.
They will now make the same short journey in England’s northwest in the fourth round on Saturday and the Salford manager is confident of a very different game.
“Last year was really emotional,” said Robinson. “It wasn’t too long ago our owners were leaning on iron bars watching non-league football.
“To then walk out at the Etihad in front of 60,000 with their football club was incredible. That’s the journey of all journeys.
“This year we have other things to worry about. We have a different mindset. We’ve learned from last year. We’ll be way more prepared.”
Playing City in the FA Cup was an indication of Salford’s rise through the ranks of English football from non-league level, with their ascent propelled by their takeover by a group of former Manchester United stars from the celebrated ‘Class of 92’.
Salford are now in their seventh successive campaign in League Two, with the ownership changing last year as a new consortium fronted by Gary Neville and David Beckham bought out their former Old Trafford teammates.
Forging their own identity in the shadow of some of England’s leading clubs is an issue for Salford, who will revert to their traditional orange kit after the ‘Class of 92’ brought in a red and white strip.
“Salford is a proper football club and that’s our message going into this game,” said Robinson.
“Last year we wore the red kit but we’ll wear our away kit this year, just to signify it’s a new era. We do sit separate to City and United. We have our own identity.
“We’re a completely different football club now.”
For all Robinson’s renewed optimism, City thrashed League One Exeter 10-1 in the last round of the FA Cup.
But he insisted: “There’s always hope, there’s always a possibility. You don’t know 100 percent. You might know the odds are 99.9 percent against, but there’s still that chance.
“Everyone goes to bed the night before with that thought of ‘what if?’, and that’s exciting.”
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.