Tomorrow, the Chennai Super Kings and the Lucknow Super Giants have a chance to confirm their playoff spots before we head into the final day of the group stages, setting up a nail-biting Super Sunday that could see plenty of drama. The action keeps coming in thick and fast in the IPL 2023, so make sure you join us for tomorrow's double-header. For now, this is Pratyush Rohra, signing off on behalf of my friend, Soorya Sesha. Ciao!

Right then. The Punjab Kings are officially out of the playoff contention but the Rajasthan Royals have kept their campaign alive, still hanging by the proverbial thread. Now, they can only sit back and hope other results go their way this weekend. Speaking of which, it's going to be one high-octane weekend coming up.

Devdutt Padikkal is the Player of the Match for his outstanding knock of 51 off 30 deliveries. Here's what he has to say: (Best he has struck the ball all season?) Yeah apart from the net sessions I think (laughs). Coming into the season as well I was feeling good. Unfortunately it didn't go as I had planned but at the end of the day you have to keep going and eventually the result will come. Every game as a cricketer, you come into the ground wanting to win the game for the side. To be honest it's been that kind of season where I've been all over the place in the order but I'll try to give my best wherever I bat. That's what I have to do. Doesn't matter which position I bat, I want to give my best. At the start of the season I wasn't sure if I could make it. I was in a very bad state couple of months ahead of the season. To be able to stand here, I'm very grateful to everyone who has got me to this stage.

Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals captain): (Was net run-rate a factor in their chase?) Absolutely. At the end of the game when Hettie was going big we knew somewhere around 18.5 was a good point to finish the game. To be very honest, with the team we have, the quality of players and characters we have, it's a bit disappointing to see where we're standing in the table at this point of time. There are a lot of things to discuss about and learn from it. (On Jaiswal) I've been talking about him almost every match. I've been very happy about how mature he has been. The second half has been a different kind of an IPL for us. The last three games the pressure has been up there and until the last ball was bowled, the pressure was up there.

Shimron Hetmyer: For me, I was just trying to see how fast we can finish the game. I was actually trying to finish it off by the 18th over, but it didn't happen. [Things not going well] I guess these things happen but if it was up to me, I didn't listen to my wife. She tells me what to do. But in certain situations, it was tough out in the middle sometimes. That's how it goes in cricket. [Battle with Sam Curran] It's always good to have someone say something to me. It doesn't have a lot when Im batting but it gives me a lot of confidence to take it on. Can't disclose it to you, to be honest.

Shikhar Dhawan  (Punjab Kings captain): We lost the game while batting. Jitesh, Curran and Shahrukh got us back in the game. The bowlers did a good job again but the fielding wasn't great. We dropped a few catches and gave away a few runs, which cost us a game. 200-215 should have been a good total. I feel that in all the areas, we could have done better. Sometimes our batting was clicking, sometimes the bowling was. It's a young side, it was a bit of up and down. I'm sure the boys learned a lot and even I did, as a leader. You learn from the mistakes you make. [Usage of his bowlers today] Today we ended up in that position because we knew we had to take the game deep. So, the last over went to Rahul and when there was not much turn, it was difficult for him. Even in the last game, I gave Brar the last over, so that's a learning experience for me.

Match Summary: Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by 4 wickets.

Devdutt Padikkal 51 (30) | Navdeep Saini 3/40 (4)
Sam Curran 49* (31) | Kagiso Rabada 2/40 (4)

Everything was on the line for both these teams. They simply couldn't afford to slip-up and it was going to come down to which team would hold their nerve at the end of it all. As it turned out, the Rajasthan Royals have prevailed and 187 didn't prove to be enough for the Punjab Kings, despite heroic efforts with the bat from Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan and Jitesh Sharma.

There was another equation which might have been at the back of the Royals' mind, which was to get to the target inside 18.3 overs to ensure their net run-rate would eclipse that of Royal Challengers Bangalore. The way they started despite the early loss of Jos Buttler, who fell for another duck, certainly made it a realistic possibility. Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his red-hot form but it was Devdutt Padikkal who was in fine nick in the powerplay as he tore into anything in his zone and dispatched the full ones to the fence. Dew setting in didn't make life tough for the bowlers and the Kings had their task cut out.

A couple of quiet overs sent down by Rahul Chahar and Nathan Ellis just sent the asking rate rising although Padikkal continued to find the boundary regularly en route to his second half-century of the season. Jaiswal just seemed to try a bit too much and tried to get too innovative. It didn't come off always, but when it did, he managed to reap the rewards for it. A quick double-strike saw PBKS pull things back though with Padikkal and Sanju Samson perishing in quick succession and transferring pressure onto Jaiswal. The way Shimron Hetmyer got going from the word go eased the nerves as he rocketed along to put the Royals in the driver's seat.

There was the odd twist thereafter as another attempted funky stroke from Jaiswal brought about his downfall before Hetmyer was adjudged out off a Curran bumper, only for the replays to show that the southpaw hadn't nicked it. There was some banter between the two as well with the West Indian clearly enjoying every bit of it as he ate into the deficit, helped along the way by a highly valuable Riyan Parag cameo. Their wickets brought another twist to the tale but it was Dhruv Jurel, coming in as the impact substitute, who held his nerve in the final over to seal the deal with a big hit down the ground. The Royals stay alive but only just as they now wait for results to fall in their favor. As for the Kings, they will have to pack their bags after another season of disappointment. Stick around for the presentations...

JUREL FINISHES IT OFF IN STYLE! The Royals are alive and only just! They've got the two points in dramatic fashion and it's the ice-cool Jurel who holds his nerve to get the job done. Alas for the Punjab Kings, their season is done.

19.4 Rahul Chahar to Dhruv Jurel, JUREL GETS THE ROYALS OVER THE LINE! It's not done in the manner RR might have wanted but they've got the two points to keep their hopes alive, just about. On the good length at the middle stump, Jurel steps down the pitch and thwacks it down the ground to seal the deal. Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets with 3 balls to spare.

Job well done by Trent Boult. All onto Jurel now. 5 needed off 3...

19.3 Rahul Chahar to Trent Boult, pitched up on the middle stump line. Boult flicks it out to deep mid-wicket and jogs across for the single 

Oh they've taken the single! What a story it would be if Trent Boult were to finish it off with a six though, eh? Never say never to anything but will he swing hard or will he just look to tap and get off strike? 6 needed off 4...

19.2 Rahul Chahar to Dhruv Jurel, quicker one around the off-stump line. Jurel steps out and bunts it to long-off, deciding to take the single on this occasion

Jurel's not ready yet as he bails out of his stance. Pressure everywhere...

Fantastic dash and dive from Jurel. Referred upstairs but the dive has done the trick for him so he will carry on. 7 needed off 5...

19.1 Rahul Chahar to Dhruv Jurel, pushes it through on the pads. Jurel nudges it towards deep square leg and gets on his bike to race back for the second run. He put in the dive in the end and that saves him rather comfortably. Excellent running!

Big big task on Chahar's hand. 

Oh look what it has come down to! These two teams have a have made it a habit to produce one nail-biter upon another over the years and here we are yet again. It can go either way. Or it could end in a stalemate for the first Super Over of the season. Rajasthan Royals require 9 runs to win off the final over!