Sanju Samson's century on his captaincy debut went in vain as young pacer Arshdeep Singh helped Punjab Kings pull off a thrilling four-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Monday night's IPL game.

Powered by KL Rahul (91 off 50) and Deepak Hooda (64 off 28), Punjab Kings managed to hit an imposing 221 for six wickets. Samson almost brought Royals towards a breathtaking victory with his 119 off 63 balls but was caught off the game's final ball.

Arshdeep had defended 13 runs in the last over. Samson was so sure that he could take his team to victory that he refused a single to Chris Morris on the penultimate ball of the game when Royals needed five runs off two balls.

It was not just the end though, Punjab kept scraping Royals throughout the match. Rajasthan lost its opener, Ben Stokes (0), quite early. Vohra (12) followed Stokes when the score stood at 25 for two.

Samson and Jos Butler (25) tried to bring the game back home with their 45-run stand that included four successive boundaries. But the Pacer Jhye Richardson stopped the Royals by cleaning up Buttler.

Samson kept his end of the bargain despite losing partners at the other end. He was dropped twice but managed to complete his fifty with a boundary.

Royals fetched 26 runs from the 14th and 15th over and then Murugan Ashwin conceded three sixes in the 16th over, as Royals amassed 20 runs, to bring down the equation to 48 runs from the last four.

Samson hammered Richardson for two boundaries and a six in the 18th over, in which the Royals got 19 runs and took his team on the cusp of a fine win before falling short.

Despite the win, Punjab will be worried that their expensive fast bowling recruits from Australia, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith, leaked 55 and 49 runs respectively in their four overs.

Earlier, Rahul smashed seven fours and five sixes while Hooda, playing his first game since the last IPL, plundered six maximums and four boundaries to fire Punjab past 200.

They lost opener Mayank Agarwal (14) early, who edged it back to Samson for IPL debutant Chetan Sakariya's first wicket. He ended being the pick of the bowlers, conceding only five runs in the 20th over.

Rahul, who got his first four with a glance to the fine-leg fence, and Chris Gayle (40 off 28) gave the team a good start with their 67-run stand.

Rahul got a life' after Ben Stokes dropped him at the fence in the seventh over even as Gayle, looked in his elements. The duo then took on Stokes, as Gayle hit his 350th IPL six, a pull over deep square in the 8th over with Punjab racing to 70 for one.

Gayle was dropped by leggie Rahul Tewatia (0/25) off his own bowling and the very next ball, the left-hander smashed a six. However, in the 10th over, Riyan Parag (1/7) removed Gayle, who was holed out to Stokes in the deep.

Rahul then changed gears and got to his fifty with a six over Shivam Dube's (0/20) head in the 13th over. Hooda then smashed two maximums in the same over and then struck three sixes off Shreyas Gopal (0/40) in the next as Punjab went ballistic.

It was Rahul and Hooda's show at the Wankhede that made the difference to their total as the duo tore into the opposition attack on their way to to their 105-run stand. Courtesy of their monstrous hitting, Punjab added 111 runs in the final eight overs.

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With inputs from agencies

First Published:Apr 13, 2021 9:36 AM IST