Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings has been ruled out from the race of Playoffs in IPL 2024. On Friday they had to suffer a defeat by 4 wickets against Rajasthan Royals at Dharamshala and ended their hopes. The four-wicket win keeps Rajasthan alive but their fate depends on the results of other matches of RCB and MI.
Earlier, Punjab had a chance to qualify for the playoffs but two defeats in Dharamsala ended their dreams. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings failed to reach the IPL playoffs for the ninth successive season. Last time Punjab Kings qualified for Playoff and reached the final in IPL 2014. But they lost in the final to KKR by 3 wickets in Chinnaswamy Stadium. Now, Punjab Kings joined Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad to be out of the race for the playoffs. PBKS have played 14 games this season, collecting 12 points after winning six games and losing eight. They are currently in eighth place in the point table.
Punjab Kings’ Journey through the Season
Punjab Kings suffered a major blow as their explosive top-order batter Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of the entire IPL 2024. Despite this, they started their season with the victory and won two matches in a row. They defeated KKR and RR by 7 runs and 5 runs respectively. In the second match against RR, another injury hit the Punjab Kings as their middle-order batter B. Rajapaksa got injured on Shikhar Dhawan’s shot. After this injury, Punjab lost their next two matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans by 8 wickets and 6 wickets respectively. After that, their win and loss continued. In the next 4 matches, they won and lost 2-2 matches respectively. But, they suffered 5 losses in the next 6 matches against different teams. These five defeats left Punjab Kings behind and forced them to acquire the third last position in the points table.
Punjab Kings’ Batters in IPL 2024
Shikhar Dhawan missed three matches but was still the leading run-scorer for Punjab. He played 11 matches and scored 273 runs with an average of 41.44 and a strike rate of 142.91. He also smashed three fifties in 12 innings with an unbeaten 99 as his best. After Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh, who played in the place of Bairstow, is in the second spot with 358 runs in 14 matches. With a strike rate of 150, the 22-year-old wicket keeper and batsman scored one hundred and one fifty in his 14 innings. The middle-order batsman Liam Livingston played 9 matches and scored 279 runs with two fifties. Meanwhile, the other wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma was also in good form. He continued his supremacy in the IPL with another season as a finisher. Batting mostly in the death overs, he played 14 matches and scored 309 runs at a strike rate of 156.06. Moreover, Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan scored 276 and 156 runs in 14 matches.
Also Read: Consistently Poor Top-order rules SRH out of IPL 2024!
Punjab Kings’ Bowlers Performance
Sam Curran, Rabada, Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar seemed completely insipid with the ball. Sam Curran and Rahul Chahar played 14 matches for Punjab and took only 10 and 8 wickets with an economy of 10.22 and 7.75. While talking about Harpreet Brar, he took only 9 wickets, best 4/30, with an economy of 8.02. However, Rabada played only 6 matches and picked up 6 wickets with a poor economy of 10.08. Only Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis seemed in good form with the ball. Arshdeep was the highest wicket-taker for Punjab. He played 14 matches and picked up 17 wickets with an economy of 9.69. After Arshdeep, Ellis was the second-highest wicket-taker for the Punjab side. He took 13 wickets at an economy of 8.92 in just 10 matches.
Also Read: Delhi Capitals make early exits from IPL 2024!
To sum up, we can say that we saw impressive performances from the uncapped domestic batters. But, the consistently poor blowing performances forced Punjab Kings out of the IPL 2024. This season the bowler lost their confidence and couldn’t bounce back in the matches, as Tom Moody said. Moreover, the Kings became the first team to score 200 or more in four consecutive matches.
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