The streak is over. For 35 overs on Wednesday, it seemed as if the Rajasthan Royals' winning run would continue, only for the Gujarat Titans to snap it in extraordinary fashion. Not panic stations yet for the Royals. No team has more points than them at this stage, and a solitary loss after five games is hardly a crisis.
But the Royals will be quietly aware of what happened last season. They had four wins in their first five matches, and then stumbled their way to a fifth-place finish. Tonight, thus, is the perfect opportunity for them to illustrate how much they have learnt from 2023.
Like the Royals, the Punjab Kings were denied at the death in a home game. Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh almost mounted a daring heist but fell short by two runs. A defeat of that ilk would have stung. That they came so close, despite seemingly being out of it at one stage, could help fuel their charge for tonight, though.
So, here we are: in Mullanpur for the latest instalment of arguably the most keenly-contested IPL rivalry in the past few years. Both of these sides have been around since it all began in 2008, and have played out some enthralling encounters (more on that in a bit).
Tonight should be no different. An RR win and the defeat to GT might be cast aside as an aberration. A Punjab victory, and there will be renewed belief that this is their year, while making the Royals revisit a past sequence they're longing want to forget.
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