The Rajasthan cricket team’s five-match winning streak in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 ended on Tuesday following a five-wicket defeat at the hands of reigning champions Punjab at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

Following the defeat, Rajasthan also lost their perch in the SMAT 2024 Group A standings to Bengal, who are also on 20 points after six matches but are ahead on net run rate. Third-placed Madhya Pradesh are also on 20 points.

Kartik Sharma’s half-century helped Rajasthan recover from an early collapse to put up 161/9 on the board in their 20 overs. Punjab, however, made light work of the chase courtesy of Prabhsimran Singh’s fiery 31-ball 62.

After captain Mahipal Lomror won the toss and elected to bat first, Rajasthan ended up losing both their openers - Bharat Sharma and Abhijeet Tomar - early and were reeling at 8/2.

Kartik Sharma scored a 34-ball 50 to steady the innings but fell immediately after reaching his half-century after being caught by Harpreet Brar off Sanvir Singh.

Captain Lormor contributed 15 to Rajasthan’s cause before being dismissed by Mayank Markande. However, nifty knocks by Deepak Hooda (23) and Shubham Garhwal (32) helped supplement Kumar’s innings, leading Rajasthan to a respectable total.

Baltej Singh was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab with figures of 3/32 while Arshdeep Singh picked up 2/32 from his quota of four overs.

The Punjab cricket team’s chase suffered an early blow after Deepak Chahar sent back their captain and star opener Abhishek Sharma for a two-ball duck in the very first over.

However, Prabhsimran Singh didn’t let Rajasthan capitalise on the early breakthrough and took the game to the bowlers with some brilliant power-hitting.

The Punjab batter was the backbone of two productive partnerships, first with Anmolpreet Singh (29) and then with Nehal Wadhera (18) before being dismissed by Kamlesh Nagarkoti in the 11th over.

On 110/3 after Prabhsimran’s dismissal, Wadhera, Naman Dhir (18), Sanvir Singh (19) and Ramandeep Singh (7) ensured Punjab crossed the finish line comfortably with 14 balls remaining.

Deepak Chahar took two of the five wickets Punjab lost in the match while giving away 30 runs.

Punjab vs Rajasthan, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, brief scores: RAJ 161/9 in 20 overs (Kartik Sharma 50, Baltej Singh 3/32) lost to PNJB 162/5 (Prabhsimran Singh 62, Deepak Chahar 2/30) by five wickets.