"Just keeping my mind nice and clear": Ferreira after guiding RR to 6-wicket win over PBKS with unbeaten 52

With RR chasing the target of 223, Ferreira scored an unbeaten 52 off 26 balls and stitched a 77-run partnership with Shubham Dubey, who scored an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls, and guided RR to a win. Ferreira won the Player of the Match

Reflecting on his innings, Ferreira said he stayed calm and focused during his innings. He credited his clear approach and good shot selection, noting that a strong over, bowled by PBKS' Lockie Fergusen where the RR got 16 runs, helped shift momentum.

"I think it was a good innings, just keeping my mind nice and clear, like when I was kid playing the toy truck. Just kept a clear mind and played good cricket shots. I kept reminding myself that one good over is all we need, luckily it happened in Lockie's over," he said during the post-match presentation.

He also emphasised that winning matches at the top of the table requires contributions from different players, praising Shubham Dubey for stepping up with a valuable knock.

"You need to win games at the top of the table, different guys have to put their hands up, you can't rely on the openers, Shubham came out and played a good knock," Ferreira said.

Put to bat first, PBKS reached 222/4 courtesy half-centuries from Marcus Stoinis (62* in 22 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) and Prabhsimran Singh (59 in 44 balls, with six fours and a six).

But during the chase, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (43 in 16 balls, with three fours and five sixes) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 in 27 balls, with seven fours and a six) started off with a 51-run stand. A fifth wicket stand of 77 runs between Donovan Ferreira (52* in 26 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and Shubham Dubey (31* in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) sealed the win with four balls left.

PBKS stay at the top despite the loss, with 13 points after six wins, a no result and a loss. RR rise to third spot, with six wins and three losses, giving them 12 points.

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag said the team largely executed their pre-match plans in the game against Punjab Kings. He noted that while the bowling could have been slightly better, the batters made up for it with a strong performance.

"As a team what we discussed before the tournament we achieved in this game. We could have restricted them to little lower but batters picked up the slack. We could have bowled a few overs better here and there, batters a few overs better. But the aspiration to do well for 40 overs. The concerns were from everyone watching, we have trust in players, all the worries are from outside and not from us," Riyan Parag said at the post-match presentation.

He added that the strategy was to preserve wickets without losing touch with the required run rate, acknowledging that maintaining momentum was challenging but ultimately managed well. Parag also praised Shubham Dubey and Donovan Ferreira for their match-winning partnership that took the game away from PBKS.

"The plan was to keep wickets in hand but not fall too far behind the run-rate, the tough part was keeping the momentum, we got behind a little bit but picked it up again. Him (Shubham Dubey) and Don (Donovan Ferreira) the way they played took away from PBKS, the way they batted was commendable," the RR captain said. (ANI)