IPL 2021, RR vs PBKS Highlights: Samson’s ton goes in vain as Punjab beat Royals by 4 runs in thriller

Chris Morris comes to the crease. Riley Meredith pulls the length back, a dot delivery as Morris could not hit past the short cover fielder. Morris guides the ball for a single, gets Sanju Samson on strike. SIX! Samson flicks the ball off his pads for another maximum. He is in terrific touch tonight. He gets a single off the next ball. Morris to face the last ball of the over. He was expected to swing for a big one here and he does but could not get bat on it. 13 runs needed from the last over. RR 209/6 after 19 overs

Finally, something good for Riley Meredith on his IPL debut. Rahul Tewatia edges it to KL Rahul, a regulation catch. Tewatia out for 2. Royals still need 21 runs from 11 balls. RR 201/6 after 18.1 overs

Jhye Richardson into the attack, Sanju Samson into the attack. FOUR! Samson gets one in the slot and finds the gap on the off side. SIX! Samson takes the aerial route and gets his fifth maximum of the innings. CENTURY! Samson hits the boundary and gets to his third IPL century. He also becomes the first player to hit century on captaincy debut. He takes a couple of runs off the next ball. Richardson bowls down the leg side, that's a wide. Two more singles from the over. RR 201/5 after 18 overs

Rahul Tewatia, the star of last season's high-scoring run chase comes to the crease. Shami bowls a full delivery, a dot ball. The next ball goes down the leg side, second wide delivery from the over. Tewatia goes the big shot but mistimes, just a single. FOUR! Sanju Samson gets a boundary as the long-on fielder misjudges the ball. A single to end the over, 8 runs from it. RR 182/5 after 17 overs

49 runs needed off 24 balls. Mohammed Shami to bowl his final over. Shami starts off with a wide. Short ball from Shami, Parag tries to guide it over short fine leg but misses. WICKET! A bouncer from Shami and Parag edges to the keeper trying to pull it. RR 175/5 after 16.2 overs 

Murugan Ashwin comes to bowl his final over. SIX! Sanju Samson launches it into the sight screen for a maximum. Samson is playing the absolute captain's knock here. Ashwin pulls his length back, just a single off that one. Riyan Parag goes for a wild slog but misses the ball. SIX! Parag hits it in the air and it teases Deepak Hooda at long-off. SIX! Parag gets that one in the middle of the bat. Another maximum for the youngster. A single to end the over. Huge over for Royals, 20 runs from it. RR 174/4 after 16 overs

Jhye Richardson to bowl his third over. Two singles off the first two deliveries. FOUR! Samson picks the slower ball and plays it square of the wicket for a boundary. SIX! This is pure timing from Samson. He did not hit it hard just flicked it away for a maximum. A full wide delivery from Richardson, Samson manages a single. Another slow ball from the Aussie and Riyan Parag could not get bat on it. RR 154/4 after 15 overs

Now, Mohammed Shami back into the attack. Punjab want to close this game early. Shami starts off with a dot ball. FOUR! That was on the pads and Samson flicks it away for a boundary. A single off the next ball. SIX! Parag picks it up and flicks for a maximum. Even he is surprised after hitting that shot. He gets a single off the next ball. Samson gets another single, retains strike.Royals are still in this run chase. RR 141/4 after 14 overs

Riyan Parag comes to bat. He is off strike. Sanju Samson takes a single. FOUR! Riyan Parag gets off the mark with a boundary. RR 128/4 after 13 overs

Arshdeep Singh back in the attack. FOUR! Shivam Dube hits straight back past the bowler for a boundary. Two singles to follow. WICKET! Dube departs for 23. Deepak Hooda takes the catch. Arshdeep gets his second wicket of the day. RR 123/4 after 12.5 overs

Murugan Ashwin into his third over now. Sanju Samson gets a single off the first ball. A dot ball to follow to Shivam Dube. FOUR! Dube gets on one knee and hits the ball in the gap wide of the long-on fielder. Three more singles from the over. RR 117/3 after 12 overs 

Riley Meredith continues. Shivam Dube gets a single off the first ball. SIX! Sanju Samson hits it towards fine leg boundary for a maximum. This has not been the ideal IPL debut for Meredith. He needs a wicket to redeem himself now. He almost got the wicket of Samson in the previous over. Samson hits the ball in the gap and takes a couple of runs. FOUR! Another short ball and Samson jumps to get bat on it guiding it over KL Rahul for a boundary. Fifty for Samson from 33 deliveries. He is doing what KL Rahul did for Kings. He needs support from the other end. Samson survives after the umpire gave him out. He uses the review to get the decision reversed. A single to end the over. RR 109/3 after 11 overs

Murugan Ashwin back in attack. Two singles off the first two balls. Ashwin misses his line and bowls two wides. Next ball, Sanju Samson mistimes it to long-on, takes a single. Shivam Dube takes a single as well. A couple more runs from the over, good one for Kings. RR 95/3 after 10 overs

Riley Meredith back into the attack and pitches the slower delivery in the slot. Samsung Samson hits it for a big SIX over long-off. As long as Samson is there, the run chase is alive. A back of the length delivery, no run scored off that one. DROPPED! The long-on and long-off fielders went for the catch but Samson survives. Mayank Agarwal gets his hands on it but drops in the end. Shivam Dube on strike, plays a dot one. He guides the next ball to the third man for a single. Another single to end the over. Good comeback from Meredith after getting hit for a six off the first ball. RR 87/3 after 9 overs

Shivam Dube comes in to bat at No.5. Dube gets off the mark with a boundary as it guides it past the point fielder. Next ball, he hits it in the gap but now well enough. A couple of runs for him. Another couple of runs to end the over. RR 78/3 after 8 overs

Jhye Richardson back into the attack after an expensive first over. Two singles off the two deliveries. BOWLED! Richardson gets rid of the dangerous Jos Buttler with a slower yorker. Buttler departs for 25, Royals' run chase in disarray. RR 70/3 after 7.3 overs

Murugan Ashwin into the attack. Sanju Samson plays the pull shot but could not hit it in the gap, just a single. Ashwin bowls a no ball and Jos Buttler is on strike for the free hit delivery. FOUR! Buttler comes down the ground and hits the ball for a boundary. A quick single off the next ball. A dot ball to follow, Samson could not get past the short cover fielder. Ashwin bowls one into the blockhole, second dot ball in a row. Three more runs from the over. RR 68/2 after 7 overs

Arshdeep Singh continues. FOUR! Sanju Samson pulls the short ball for a boundary. Samson follows it up with a single. Good bowling from Arshdeep, another dot ball. Jos Buttler gets a single. FOUR! Full toss wide of off stump and it gets the treatment it deserves. All Samson had to do was to get bat on it. A single to finish the over, 11 runs from it. Royals are 14 runs ahead of Kings after the powerplay overs. RR 59/2 after 6 overs

Riley Meredith brought into the attack. FOUR! Jos Buttler hits it along the ground for a boundary. Buttler not troubled by the pace of Meredith. FOUR! Buttler uses the pace and beats the point fielder. Consecutive boundaries for the Englishman. FOUR! Buttler scoops that one for a boundary. Meredith almost seems clueless now. FOUR! Too full from Meredith and Buttler drives it for a boundary. That's four in a row. Meredith pulls his length and Buttler takes a quick single. Samson takes a single off the last ball. 18 runs from the over, this is the kind of over Royals needed to get the run chase back on track. RR 48/2 after 5 overs

Jos Buttler comes in to bat. The wicketkeeper-batsman should have opened the innings for the Royals as he did earlier. He gets a single off the first ball he faces. In this run chase, Royals need Buttler to fire. DROPPED! KL Rahul drops a regulation catch. Arshdeep Singh forced an outside edge off Sanju Samson's bat and the skipper drops it. How expensive will this drop be? FOUR! Samson finishes the over with a boundary, a deft touch past the wicketkeeper. Just five runs from Arshdeep's first over. RR 30/2 after 4 overs

Arshdeep Singh replaces Jhye Richardson. He starts up with a dot delivery and then completes a caught and bowled to dismiss Manan Vohra. A brilliant catch from Arshdeep on follow-through. Vohra departs for 12. RR 25/2 after 3.2 overs

Mohammed Shami continues. It doesn't seem like Shami has not played a game since he was ruled out of Australia due to injury. Three dot balls from Shami in the over. The third ball hits Sanju Samson on the thigh and he needs some attention. FOUR! Samson pierces the offside fielder and gets a boundary. A dot ball to follow. FOUR! Samson could not get that in the middle of the bat but finds the gap. RR need a big score in the powerplay overs to stay in contention. RR 25/1 after 3 overs

Samson comes in at 3 and pulls Shami for four - the first boundary of the innings. How will the leader stand up in this mountain of a chase that faces Rajasthan? Only 4 runs in the first over. Jhye Richardson takes the ball for the 2nd over. Manan Vohra gets off to a rocking start - cracked over midwicket for six. Another ball clipped off the pads for four to fine leg later.

RR 17/1 after 2 

The chase begins for Rajasthan. Mohammed Shami, making a comeback of his own, opens the attack for Punjab. Ben Stokes and Manan Vohra - not Buttler (umm...Captain Morgan had led us wrong all along it seems) open the innings. Stokes faces and crashed the first ball back into the stumps at the other end. There's a top edge and three Punjab fielders collide! Rahul catches, and holds on, under pressure from Shami, who also wanted the catch. Stokes is out for a duck.

RR 0/1 after 0.3

Chetan Sakariya bowls to Shahrukh Khan, a dot ball wide off the crease. Shahrukh gets a single off the next one. Jhye Richardson is the next man in. Richardson gets beaten by the slower ball, another dot ball. WICKET! Richardson goes for the big shot but finds the fielder in the deep. Chris Morris takes an easy catch. Brilliant final over from Sakariya, 5 runs and 2 wickets from it. He finishes with 3 wickets for 31 runs in his quota of 4 overs. PBKS 221/6 after 20 overs

Debutant Chetan Sakariya given the ball to bowl the last over. It has not been an easy outing for bowlers tonight. FOUR! KL Rahul finds the gap and the boundary. He moves into 90s now. WICKET! Rahul takes the aerial route again but Rahul Tewatia takes an excellent catch on the ropes. He threw the ball in the air while falling over, went outside the boundary and completed the catch. Rahul departs for 50-ball 91. PBKS 220/5 after 19.2 overs

Mustafizur Rahman bowls the penultimate over. KL Rahul gets a single off the first ball and moves into 80s. Punjab's new recruit Shahrukh Khan comes in to bat and gets a single. He was roped in for Rs 5.25 crore in the auction. A single for him to get started. Rahman follows it up with a no ball and a wide ball. FOUR! Rahul manages to get a boundary off the free hit delivery. He gets a couple of runs off the next delivery. A single to follow, Rahul has a chance to get his third IPL century here. Last ball of the over, Shahrukh Khan scores his first boundary. PBKS 216/4 after 19 overs

Chetan Sakariya takes an absolute stunner at short fine leg to remove Nicholas Pooran. The Caribbean batsman gets out for a golden duck. Chris Morris has his second wicket in the over. Earlier KL Rahul hit him for the second six in the over. Third century on cards for Rahul. PBKS 201/4 after 18 overs

Chris Morris continues, KL Rahul on strike. SIX! Rahul plays the scoop shot and gets it over the boundary for a maximum. He moves into 70s now. A single off the next ball. WICKET! Morris finally manages to get the breakthrough. Deepak Hooda hit that one too high and not enough distance. He departs for 64 from 28 balls. PBKS 194/3 after 17.3 overs

Chetan Sakariya has been brought back to bowl in the death overs. This will be the true test for the youngsters. Sakariya bowls back of the length delivery from round the wicket, a dot ball to start with. Deepak Hooda gets an inside edge, takes a single. KL Rahul takes a single as well. Sakariya goes over the wicket this time and bowls a back of the length fuller delivery, another dot ball. FOUR! Slower bouncer and Hooda manages to hit it over short fine leg for a boundary. FOUR! Hooda goes deep into the crease and hits the ball straight for a boundary. NO BALL! The last delivery was a no ball and free hit for Punjab. This was the last thing Rajasthan wanted at this stage. FOUR! Hooda manages to slice the slower wide delivery for a boundary. 15 runs from the over. Hooda moves on to 64. This is his highest score in IPL. PBKS 187/2 after 17 overs

Chris Morris comes into the attack and gets the same treatment from Deepak Hooda. SIX! What has been Hooda doing since last season. This is some serious hitting. He gets a couple of runs off the next delivery. FIFTY! Hooda gets to his third IPL fifty with a single. He reaches the milestone off just 20 deliveries. This is the second-fastest IPL fifty against RR. The record belongs to David Miller who took 19 balls to reach fifty. 11 runs from Morris' over. PBKS 172/2 after 16 overs

Now Deepak Hooda gets a second chance. Jos Buttler runs back to take the catch but could not get hands on it. It was clearly Ben Stokes' catch who was fielding at long off. Not a great day for Royals' fielders on the field. At this stage, Royals cannot afford to drop any more catches. Mustafizur Rahman brought back into the attack after Hooda's six-hitting spree in middle overs. SIX! Top edge off KL Rahul's bat travels over the boundary. Nothing going Royals' way. 11 runs from Mustafizur's over. PBKS 161/2 after 15 overs

Shreyas Gopal bowls his third over. KL Rahul takes a single towards long on. SIX! Deepak Hooda is batting in fifth gear. 89-metre six from Hooda over covers boundary. SIX! Consecutive sixes from Hooda. This time he sweeps it comfortably over the deep square leg. We should see Rajasthan's fast bowlers returning into the attack from next over now. Otherwise it will be poor captaincy from the young skipper. A rare dot delivery from Gopal. SIX! Here comes another one. Hooda hits that one over long off for his fifth maximum of the innings. A big score is surely on cards. A single to end the over. PBKS 150/2 after 14 overs

Shivam Dube has been introduced into the attack. Dube was picked in the auctions for Rs 4.4 crore. Deepak Hooda gets a single off the first ball. SIX! KL Rahul hits it straight and gets to his half-century in style. He took 30 balls to reach the milestone. A single to follow. SIX! Now, Deepak Hooda takes the aerial route and hits the ball over deep mid-wicket for a six. A dot ball to follow. Another SIX! Hooda justifying the promotion in the batting order. This time hits it over covers for a maximum. Big over for Punjab, 20 runs come off it. Dube is unlikely to bowl a second over here. PBKS 130/2 after 13 overs

Shreyas Gopal back into the attack after an expensive first over. Riyan Parag has been taken off the attack after he got Chris Gayle's wicket. Three singles taken off the first four balls. FOUR! First boundary for Deepak Hooda as he gets on one knee and plays the sweep shot. A single to end the over. PBKS 110/2 after 12 overs

Deepak Hooda comes in to bat ahead of Nicholas Pooran. Interesting change in the batting order here from Punjab. Rahul Tewatia continues. He has not been impressive today and KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda pick up a couple of ones and twos. FOUR! Rahul comes down the wicket and hits him for a boundary. A single to finish the over, 13 runs from it. PBKS 102/2 after 11 overs

Yet another leg spinner into the attack. Part-time spinner Riyan Parag bowls the 10th over. KL Rahul gets a half-tracker and he puts it away for a boundary. There is no strike rate issue now. He is batting at a strike rate of 150. A single taken off the next ball. Chris Gayle pushes the ball for a single. Parag pulls off a Kedar Jadhav as he bowls with a low round-arm action. Maybe that's the reason why he has been handed the ball. WICKET! The ploy works as Gayle hits it towards long on fielder. Ben Stokes takes the catch this time. Finally, a breakthrough for Rajasthan. Gayle departs for 40. PBKS 89/2 after 9.5 overs

Rahul Tewatia into the attack now, another leg spinner. Two singles off the first ball and the second-wicket partnership is worth 50 runs now. Punjab are accelerating now and Rajasthan need a wicket to disrupt it. Gayle finds a boundary after facing a dot delivery. The fielders inside the 30-yard circle did not move at all. DROPPED! Now Gayle gets a life. That was hit back to Tewatia by Gayle but the Rajasthan bowler could not hold on to it. SIX! Tewatia must be missed at himself now. Gayle hits it into the second tier. Another 12-run over. PBKS 82/1 after 9 overs

Ben Stokes into the attack and KL Rahul hits the first ball for a boundary towards wide off. That is like rubbing salt on Stokes' wounds after the dropped catch. A single off the next ball. SIX! Easy pickings for Chris Gayle as he pulls the short ball for a maximum. New ball, please! Two dot balls to follow including a big shout off the ball that was pitched outside leg stump. A single to end the over, 12 runs from it. PBKS 70/1 after 8 overs

Shreyas Gopal, the leg spinner into the attack. Gayle gets a single off the first ball. Rahul has not been on strike for a while, he plays a dot ball. DROPPED! Ben Stokes drops Rahul's catch on the boundary. A lifeline for PBKS skipper and a boundary. Stokes seems to be blaming the lights for the drop. Rahul pushes the ball for a single off the next ball. FOUR! Chris Gayle hangs on the back foot and hits the ball for a boundary. A couple of runs to end the over, 12 runs from it. PBKS 58/1 after 7 overs

Chris Morris continues. He bowls two dot deliveries to Gayle. Rajasthan need to see the back of this batsman early otherwise they will be seeing ball flying all over the stadium. Gayle attacks but could not hit the ball from the middle of his bat, gets a couple of runs. Morris surprises him with a bouncer. FOUR! Gayle picks the length delivery and hits it over mid-off fielder for a boundary. A single to end the over. End of powerplay overs. PBKS 46/1 after 6 overs

Mustafizur Rahman bowls from the end Chetan Sakariya bowled from. He starts off with a dot ball against Chris Gayle. Next ball, Gayle almost drags it on to his stumps, gets a single. KL Rahul rotates the strike, brings Gayle back on strike. FOUR! Gayle opens his arms and hits it over Mustafizur's head for a boundary. Just a single more from the over. PBKS 39/1 after 5 overs

Chris Morris, the most expensive player of IPL comes in to bowl. KL Rahul edges the first ball and it goes past slip and runs towards the boundary. Next ball, Rahul plays it square of the wicket and gets two runs as Manan Vohra saves pushes the ball back in play inches away from the boundary. Morris does not provide any room to Rahul on the next two deliveries, no run scored off them. He bowls the next one down the leg side, wide called by the umpire. Rahul works the ball towards on side, takes a single. Gayle takes a single off the last ball and keeps strike. PBKS 31/1 after 4 overs

Chris Gayle comes in to bat and is straight away impressed by Chetan Sakariya's in-swinger. Gayle lets it go. He follows it up with another dot ball. Just one run and a wicket for Sakariya in his second over. What a journey it has been for him, from RCB's net bowler to making IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals. PBKS 22/1 after 3 overs

Sakariya continues and starts off with a dot ball. Next ball, he hits KL Rahul's pads and appeals aggressively. The umpire says no and Ben Stokes tries to calm down the youngster with a smile. Rahul manages to take a single off the third ball of the over. Edged and taken! Mayank Agarwal tries to hit it over the top but plays away from the body and edges it to Sanju Samson. He has to depart for 14 and Sakariya has his IPL debut wicket. PBKS 22/1 after 2.4 overs

Another left-arm pacer, Mustafizur Rahman bowls from the other end. Mayank Agarwal guides the ball for a couple of runs. Next ball, Mustafizur beats Mayank with an in-swinger. A huge shout but no review. The replay shows that it was hitting the stumps. Two singles and a wide to follow. The Bangladesh pacer is continuing to angle the ball in to two right-handed batsmen. Agarwal plays the ball towards on side and gets another couple of runs. A boundary to end the over as Agarwal beats the short mid-wicket fielder. 11 runs from the over. PBKS 21/0 after 2 overs

Chetan Sakariya opens the bowling with an impressive in-swinger to KL Rahul, a dot delivery. Rahul takes a quick single off the next delivery. Sakariya provides width and Mayank Agarwal throws his bat at it to pierce the offside field and the ball runs over to the boundary. Agarwal tries to guide the ball past the short third man but fails, a dot ball. Agarwal pushes the ball towards mid-off and gets a quick single. Sakariya bowls one on the pads and pays the price. The ball runs towards fine leg boundary. 10 runs from the over. PBKS 10/0 after 1 over

No surprises here. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will be opening the innings for Punjab Kings. This means Chris Gayle will bat at No.3 as he did in the last season. Debutant Chetan Sakariya will be opening the bowling for Rajasthan Royals. On a separate note, Punjab Kings' jersey looks a lot similar to RCB's jersey in the early editions

For Punjab Kings, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith get their debut caps. On the other hand, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman and Shivam Dube make their debut for Rajasthan Royals.

KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman 

Sanju Samson wins toss, elects to field first. Samson picks Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Mustafizur Rahman and Chris Morris as his overseas players. 

Rahul Tewatia played one of the most phenomenal innings in the IPL history last season hitting five sixes in Sheldon Cottrell's over. His half-century helped PBKS chase down a mammoth 224 last year. Tewatia had a batting average of 42.50 scoring 255 runs from 14 matches. Will he deliver for Rajasthan this season as well? 

Ben Stokes opened the innings for Rajasthan Royals towards the end. Stokes recently did well for England against India when promoted up the order. It will be interesting to see whether Stokes walks alongside Jos Buttler to open the innings or bats at No.3 or 4 for the Royals. 

The last time Rajasthan and Punjab went up against each other Chris Gayle scored 99. Jofra Archer was Rajasthan's most economical bowler. In Jofra's absence due to injury, the job will fall on Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman/Andrew Tye. 

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the fourth IPL match of the season between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings. Apart from the unbeaten 132 against RCB, PBKS skipper KL Rahul's strike rate has been a concern. Despite being the highest run-scorer for the franchise last season, his strike rate was one of the talking points when PBKS failed to qualify for the playoffs. To counter this, PBKS have recruited big-hitters in the middle over to provide the much-needed boost to the run rate middle overs and death overs.