Punjab Kings (PBKS) suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Dharamsala on Friday (May 19) to bow out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season.

Asked to bat first, PBKS posted 187/5 on the board with key contributions from Sam Curran (49* off 31), Jitesh Sharma (44 off 28), and Shahrukh Khan (41* off 23).

In reply, the Royals overhauled the target with two deliveries to spare. While Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 off 36) and Devdutt Padikkal (51 off 30) set the tone with crucial half-centuries at the top, Shimron Hetmyer took RR closer to win with a dazzling 28-ball 46. In the end, Impact Player Dhruv Jurel (10* off 4) took Rajasthan over the finishing line.

After the game, PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan praised Jitesh, Curran and Shahrukh for giving the side a good total but rued the team's fielding effort.

"I feel that while batting we lost wickets too many and that's why we lost the plot. Jitesh, Sam and Shahrukh gave us a good total but the fielding was bad and the bowling was good. I felt 200-215 was a good score here. I feel in all the areas we could have done better. We did not click as a unit. The graph goes up and down and the boys will learn," Dhawan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Overall, Punjab Kings endured a dismal IPL 2023 campaign. The Shikhar Dhawan-led side managed to win only 6 out of 14 league matches.

Dhawan added that there was a lot of learning for him going into the next Indian Premier League season.

"I have learnt a lot of things as well and learnt from mistakes. Today, I ended up in the position. Wanted to take the game deep and the target was gettable. Today Rahul bowled well and had a tough task ahead of him. Today I was left with no choice. But last match giving it to Brar was my mistake. Thank You. Lots of learnings for us going into the next season," he further stated.