Rajasthan Royals wrapped up a convincing 50-run victory against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur on Saturday.
After Rajasthan sliced through the Punjab top order to leave the home side tottering at 43/4, Nehal Wadhera and Glenn Maxwell launched a fightback.
A defiant 88-run stand by the duo gave Punjab a glimmer of hope as they chased 206.
But both batters were dismissed in successive balls to all but snuff out Punjab's chances.
The last ball of the 15th over saw Maxwell holing out to Yashasvi Jaiswal on the long off boundary off Maheesh Theekshana for 30 in 21 balls.
Another Sri Lankan Wanindu Hasaranga then struck with the first ball of the 16th over as Wadhera was caught at deep midwicket by a diving Dhruv Jurel. Wadhera top-scored with 62 off 41 balls.
Punjab Kings finished at 155/9 in 20 overs.
Earlier, a stunning opening over by Rajasthan Royals pacer Jofra Archer, who struck twice, left Punjab Kings reeling.
Archer castled Priyansh Arya for a duck off the very first delivery. Then after being struck for two fours by Shreyas Iyer, he closed out the over by bowling the Punjab skipper for 10 off the last ball.
Sandeep Sharma then chipped in with the wicket of Marcus Stoinis who offered a return catch after making just one to leave Punjab at 26/3.
Prabhsimran Singh, who smashed 69 against LSG in Punjab's previous game, failed to repeat his heroics, falling to spinner Kumar Kartikeya for 17 as the home team slumped to 43/4.
Earlier, a late blitz saw Rajasthan Royals storm to 205/4 against Punjab Kings after being put in to bat.
Riyan Parag remained unbeaten on 43 off 25 balls while Dhruv Jurel was not out on 13 off five balls as the last over by Marcus Stoinis went for 19.
Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored for Rajasthan with 67 off 45 balls including five sixes before being bowled by Lockie Ferguson.
Jaiswal completed his fifty in 40 balls. He then went berserk hitting 6, 1, 6 and 4 off his next four balls before being dismissed.
Jaiswal and Sanju Samson had laid a solid platform for Rajasthan Royals with an 89-run opening stand.
Ferguson finally made the breakthrough for Punjab, having Samson caught by skipper Shreyas Iyer at mid-off for 38 in 26 balls.
Punjab Kings had won the toss and opted to bowl against Rajasthan Royals.
“First game in this pitch so we reckon it’ll be better to bowl first. Boys are in high spirits and template for playing has been set from the first match. We’ve got the mindset of champions. We’re going with the same team,” Shreyas Iyer said following the toss.
“Looking forward to bat first and put up a big total on the board. Very new team and it takes a bit if time to get along. Tushar misses out due to a niggle. Yudhvir Charak comes in his place,” Sanju Samson said.
Under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, PBKS have had an excellent start to the season, winning their first two matches. However, Rajasthan has struggled, losing their first two matches, but won the third match, overcoming Chennai Super Kings by a very narrow margin.
RR will also see Sanju Samson returning as the captain, and he is expected to be fully fit and play throughout the game.
Playing XI
Pubjab Kings:
PBKS: Prabhsimran Singh(WK), Shreyas Iyer(C), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(C), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sandeep Sharma