IPL 2026: Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Match 40 - Who Said What?

Published - 28 Apr 2026, 23:03 IST | Updated - 28 Apr 2026, 23:51 IST

Rajasthan Royals (RR) handed Punjab Kings (PBKS) their first loss of the 2026 Indian Premier League with a six-wicket win at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium in New Chandigarh on April 28 in Match 40 of the marquee tournament.

Being put into bat, the Kings finished their innings with a competitive total of 222/6 in their 20 overs. Prabhsimran Sings scored 59 off 44 balls at the top of the order, an innings that is on the slower end for his lofty standards but set the platform for the host's innings. The Punjab-based team slowed down in the middle overs, with great bowling from leg spinner Yash Punja, who picked up two wickets. Marcus Stoinis scored an unbeaten 62 off just 22 balls in a brutal display of hitting in the back end.

In response, the Royals started brilliantly, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in his rich vein of form kicking off proceedings with a brilliant 43 off just 16 balls. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored another half-century, continuing the attack after Vaibhav fell.

Yuzvendra Chahal picked up three wickets, denting the Royals' momentum, but Donovan Ferreira, along with Shubham Dubey, took the Royals home with a 77-run stand off just 32 balls. Ferreira finished on 52 off just 26 balls, and Dubey finished on 31 off 12 balls to take the Royals home with four balls to spare to stop the Punjab Kings juggernaut.

IPL 2026 Memes: Hilarious Reactions from PBKS v RR, Match 40

While Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may be the RR opener with the eyeballs on him, Yashasvi Jaiswal showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with. Sooryavanshi fell after scoring a blistering 43 off just 16 balls, but Jaiswal then took the attack to the Kings bowlers. He scored a marvellous half-century, finishing with 51 off just 27 balls, which carried the Royals' chase forward.

Marcus Stoinis has been Punjab's middle-order enforcer, coming in to accelerate the scoring in the back end of the innings. While his involvement this season has been limited to cameos, he showed his prowess and fearsome hitting ability by scoring a 22-ball 62, taking the Kings to a total of 222. He scored 24 runs of Brijesh Sharma in the final over of the innings, the flashy finish to a merciless onslaught in the last three overs.

The Royals looked to be running away with the chase until Yuzvendra Chahal, as he has done through the years, put the brakes on the Royals' innings. The leg-spinner bowled with guile, finishing with figures of 3/36 off his four overs. He dismissed Dhruv Jurel off a full toss, which was top-edged to long on, then had both the well-set Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag caught trying to have a go at the bowling. Chahal changing games by foxing batters into trying to clear the field and then perishing is a sight that all viewers of this competition have become accustomed to since his early days.

The Royals have struggled for runs from their middle order, but on this occasion, runs finally came from the middle-order batters. Riyan Parag scored 29 off 16 balls, but the stars of the show were Shubham Dubey and Donovan Ferreira, who stitched an unbeaten 77-run stand off just 32 balls to take the Royals home. Ferreira, promoted up to number 5, finished unbeaten on 52 off 26 balls, while Shubham finished unbeaten on 31 off 12 balls. A significant hole in their team has been plugged for the Royals against the Kings, which they will be expected to continue into the backend of the season.

Eight games. That is how long it has taken for the Punjab Kings to have been handed their first loss of the season. The Royals completed the chase with four balls to spare, and the Punjab Kings find themselves dented for the first time in 2026. While Shreyas Iyer's men have been one of the stronger sides this season, they will have to go back to the drawing board to get back to winning ways.

"224 was a brilliant score - kudos to the batters. It was an exceptional performance on this pitch, which was tacky and slow. We fell short in our execution. They had a tremendous partnership in the middle - Ferreira and Dubey scoring those crucial runs in the end. This is the format where a lot of players have changed their game and they go from ball one.

At the end of the day, I feel it is about execution. Tonight just was not our day. It is important that we stick to the things we have been doing and have been following throughout. The body was also a bit fatigued but that cannot be the reason here.

We have a couple of days to go back to the drawing board and come back. This is our first loss, it definitely teaches you a lot. We have played games where we have chased and defended 200-plus. One of those days where it did not go our way. Want to be positive and optimistic. I felt it was difficult to score off the spinners. It was holding and offering a bit of turn. Brar, coming into his first game, showing that sort of personality, hats off to him."

"I think as a team what we discussed at the beginning of the tournament is that we treat this as a normal game. I know everything around it has a lot of value but for us it's a normal game. When we lost last game, we wanted to rectify our mistakes. Same thing again today. We felt that we could've restricted a lot lower but then the batters picked us up. Next game, moving forward, we will review this game and then move forward.

Yes, 100%. I feel we could've bowled a few better overs here and there and batted a few overs better in the middle. I would say around 35 overs than 40. You are never going to get 40 overs but the aspiration is that, you have to play good cricket for 40 overs. The concerns were apart from us, from everyone else.

Everyone watching, everyone commentating, that was their concerns not ours. We trust our players and their abilities a lot. When the middle orders don't fire, the openers and the others have to pick it up. When the middle order fires, we pick it up. So as a team, we have full trust in the team. All the worries and outside noise are for them not for us.

I think the plan was to keep wickets in hand but not to fall way too behind the run rate. The way the openers went, Vaibhav and Jaiswal, I feel it just made our jobs very easier, as usual. The tough part was after the powerplay, keeping the momentum going, keeping up with the asking rate. I think after the powerplay, we got 5, 8-run overs. But we picked up well after that. Absolutely. The way him (Dubey) and Don batted was absolutely amazing. They took the game away from PBKS. The way they batted was commendable."

"It was a good innings. Just keeping my mind nice and clear just exactly when I was a kid playing with a toy truck. Just taking it ball by ball, just kept on telling the guys, we need to be positive. It's not that hard to get that score but we need to keep showing intent. Let's be calculated and play good cricket shots.

It is important to really just take it ball-by-ball and not look too far ahead. I just kept reminding myself it's only 12s-10s, you know that's one good over and then the game becomes a lot simpler. Luckily for me, Shubham came in and took a lot of pressure off me, played a really crucial knock over there and I knew if I just stay there, not lose my wicket then I could catch up in one over. Luckily for me, that happened in Lockie's over. You need to win the games, stay in the top 4. It's a long tournament.

We just keep reminding ourselves that different guys need to put their hands up. We kind of shrill on our openers which have been really good for us. I am really pleased that I'm hitting the ball well and Shubham came in and did it as well. Jaiswal and Vaibhav are always setting it up in the first couple of overs. But it's important for us to step up and win the match for the team."