COLOMBO – Rajasthan Royals kept their Indian Premier League (IPL) Playoffs chances alive with a crucial four-wicket win over Punjab Kings in the 66th match of the tournament played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday.
After having restricted their opponents to 187 for five, Rajasthan went on to reach their target with six wickets and two deliveries to spare as they moved into fifth place of the points table with a total of 14 points.
Rajasthan’s run chase was spearheaded by opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal with both completing excellent half centuries and adding 73 runs for the second wicket after they had lost Jos Buttler in the second over.
Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal made sure the pressure wasn’t built due to the early wicket as they played aggressively and hit a slew of fours and sixes to take the score to 57 for one at the end of the Powerplay and 86 for two at the halfway mark.
With the required run rate creeping over 10 runs, Rajasthan changed gears as Shimro Hetmyer and Jaiswal cracked three sixes and four fours in just three overs to accumulate 43 runs.
With 19 needed off 12, Hetmyer cracked a couple of fours through the covers as they took 10 off four balls. But then Dhawan pulled off an excellent diving catch at extra cover to dismiss the dangerous Hetmyer for 46.
With nine runs needed off the last over, Dhawan handed the ball to Rahul Chahar. Jurel clipped the first ball to the leg side and scampered through for two.
He then thumped one but straight to long off for just a single. With six runs needed off four, Boult whipped it to deep mid-wicket for a single. With five needed off three, Jurel finished it off in style as he charged down and hammered it straight down the ground for a six to win the match for Rajasthan.
Earlier, Punjab, who were put into bat, would have ended up with a much lower total if not for the batting efforts of Shahrukh Khan (41 n.o) and Sam Curran (49).
In a 28-run penultimate over, Shahrukh exhibited his long levers with a four and a six through mid-wicket off Yuzvendra Chahal before Curran hammered 14 runs off three balls.
Shahrukh then, hammered Trent Boult for 18 runs off the final over as Punjab collected 46 runs off the last 12 balls – which eventually wasn’t enough to defend.
Chief scores
Punjab Kings: 187/5 in 20 overs (Sam Curran 49 n.o, Jitesh Sharma 44, Shahrukh Khan 41 n.o, Navdeep Saini 3/40)
Rajasthan Royals: 189/6 in 19.4 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 50, Devdutt Padikkal 51, Shimron Hetmyer 46, Riyan Parag 20, Kagiso Rabada 2/40).