Rajasthan Royals pulled off its third-highest chase in the Indian Premier League, hunting down 222/4 against the Punjab Kings in their IPL 2026 match with four balls to spare in New Chandigarh on Tuesday.
Riding on Marcus Stoinis’ unbeaten 62 off 22 balls, Punjab Kings posted 222/4 in 20 overs. Yash Raj Punja (2/41) was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors.
Rajasthan Royals’ response was built on multiple contributions, with half-centuries from Donovan Ferreira (52 not out off 26) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 off 27) standing out. The inauguaral champions finished on 228/4 in 19.2 overs - their second-highest IPL score in history.
With 12 points from nine matches, Rajasthan Royals are third on the IPL 2026 points table and have a Net Run Rate of +0.617. Punjab Kings, who suffered their first defeat of IPL 2026, still top the table with 13 points from eight matches.
Jofra Archer set the tone early with a searing opening burst, striking in the third over to remove Priyansh Arya with a delivery clocked north of 150 kmph. The length ball, just outside off, hurried Arya into a miscued chip off the inner half.
Archer’s two overs in the powerplay cost just 12 runs and yielded a wicket.
Despite that early dent, Punjab Kings surged ahead at over 10 runs per over. Prabhsimran Singh (59 off 44) and Cooper Connolly (30 off 14) counterattacked, taking the side to 95/1 at the end of eight overs.
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The middle phase, however, saw Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja and Ravindra Jadeja apply the brakes as the Rajasthan Royals tightened the screws, with Punja striking twice to remove both set batters and briefly stall Punjab’s charge.
That control, however, was undone at the death. Marcus Stoinis produced a late assault, finishing unbeaten on 62 off just 22 balls. Punjab Kings scored 55 runs in the final three overs.
Rajasthan Royals tore into the chase with a blistering powerplay, racing to 84/1 in six overs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi led the charge with a stunning 43 off just 16 balls, smashing five sixes and three fours in a fearless assault before falling to Arshdeep Singh in the fourth over.
Sooryavanshi’s quickfire knock helped him become the fastest batter to reach 400 IPL runs in a single edition. He achieved the feat in 167 balls, breaking the previous record held by Andre Russell in 2019 by 21 deliveries.
Yashasvi Jaiswal kept the momentum soaring after Vaibhav’s wicket, finishing the powerplay on 31 off 12.
However, after the electric start, Rajasthan Royals lost their grip in the middle overs.
Dhruv Jurel was dismissed in the 10th over off Yuzvendra Chahal before the leg-spinner struck again to remove Yashasvi Jaiswal, who looked set to anchor the chase with a fluent half-century, in the 12th over.
Skipper Riyan Parag, who had briefly threatened to wrest back momentum with a brisk 29 off 16, also holed out to deep mid-wicket in the 14th over.
The inaugural champions needed 72 off 36 balls with Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey at the crease.
Ferreira and Dubey combined to take on the premier Punjab Kings bowlers, targeting the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson and Marco Jansen.
Their unbeaten 77-run partnership off 32 balls helped the Rajasthan Royals finish off the chase pull off their third highest chase in the history with four balls to spare.
They chased down 223/2 against the Kings XI Punjab in 2020 and matched the feat against KKR in 2024.
Rajasthan Royals will take on Delhi Capitals in the next match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Friday.
Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2026, brief scores: PBKS 222/4 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 62 not out; Yash Raj Punja 2/41) lost to RR 228/4 in 19.2 overs (Donovan Ferreira 52 not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal 51; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/36) by six wickets.
