Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson disclosed the cause of his team's loss against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 59th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Sunday. A masterful bowling effort from left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar led the Punjab Kings (PBKS) side to win against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 10 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Talking about the team's defeat, the wicketkeeper-batter said during the post-match presentation that the team had a strong start, with the openers putting up 90 runs in the powerplay, and said he couldn't have asked for more from them. However, he admitted that they failed to maintain the momentum after the power play, despite the target being very achievable. He noted that the pitch behaved differently and believed the total was chaseable, especially with the power-hitters in the lineup. Samson emphasized that it was hard to blame one particular factor but insisted that experienced players needed to step up and take responsibility. He acknowledged that there were several areas for improvement in the upcoming season and added that the main focus now was to win the next game against CSK.

"We started well, couldn't ask for anything more from the openers, scoring 90 runs in the powerplay. We couldn't continue the momentum we achieved in the powerplay. It (target) was very achievable today. The wicket played totally differently today. That was a chaseable score with the kind of power-hitters we had. It's a bit difficult to pinpoint it to one thing, we have to get the job done. A couple of experienced guys should take responsibility and perform their job. Definitely a lot of improvements to be done for the upcoming season. We can't try much, the first priority is to win the game (vs CSK)," Sanju Samson said at presentation scenario.

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PBKS secure marginal victory over RR due to Wadhera's 70 and Brar's 3-wicket haul

Choosing to bat first, PBKS were 34/3. This was followed by a 67-run partnership between skipper Shreyas Iyer (30 in 25 balls, five fours) and Nehal Wadhera (70 in 37 balls, with five fours and five sixes) and a 58-run partnership between Wadhera and Shashank Singh (59* in 30 balls, with five fours and three sixes) cemented PBKS's grip on the game. Then came a fiery alliance between Shashank and Azmatullah Omarzai (21* in three balls, including three fours and one six) to take PBKS to 219/5 in their 20 overs. Tushar Deshpande (2/37) was the top wicket-taker for RR.

In the chase-run, young openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 off 25 balls, with nine fours and one six) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40 off 15 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) gave RR the beginning they required, scoring 76 runs in 4.5 overs. RR maintained the run-rate even after losing watters later, with Dhruv Jurel (53 in 31, including six fours and four sixes) again scoring a good knock. But other batters could not cope with the scoreboard pressure, finishing 11 runs short, with RR at 209/7.Harpreet Brar (3/22) was PBKS's top bowler. Marco Jansen (2/41) and Omarzai (2/44) also bowled well. PBKS has eight victories and three defeats and is placed in second position with 17 points, having one point from a no result. RR stands at ninth, having won three, lost 10, with six points.