The Rajasthan Royals (RR) rode on the performance of Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel but it was not enough to take the side to a win over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Wednesday, April 5.
Chasing 198 for the win, the match looked to be in the wheelhouse for a Punjab victory but the introduction of Dhurv Jurel as an 'Impact Player' had the desired impact for RR. The 22-year-old played an unbeatable innings of 32 runs off 15 balls and was in an important partnership of 61 runs off 26 balls with Hetmyer. The West Indies batters scored 36 runs off 18 balls.
Skipper Sanju Samson heaped praise on Jurel and his batting and thanked the management for working on domestic players. "The way he batted, taking on international bowlers in his first game in a pressure situation tells a lot about him and I am hopeful he will win us a few games," Samson said after the match.
"That's how we work as a franchise. He (Jurel) has been with us for the last two seasons. He has been playing a lot of domestic games. As a franchise, we normally tend to have camps before the IPL. But what we make sure of is that people who play only domestic tournaments come to our academies.
"We did five to seven one-week long camps throughout the year in Nagpur, Jaipur, Chennai, Bangalore, almost everywhere. We made sure that people like Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal and all these guys get enough practice. I think a lot of credit has to go to our team management," the wicketkeeper-batter added.
After Jos Buttler (19), Yashasvi Jaiswal (11) and Devdutt Padikkal (21) failed to convert on their strong starts, while skipper Sanju Samson tried to help his team fight back but was dismissed after scoring 42 off 25 balls.
With RR needing 16 runs off the last over, Sam Curran was given the responsibility to prove why he is the IPL's most expensive player ever, and he did it with aplomb. Curran eventually ran Hetmyer out for 36 (18 balls), bringing an end to a thrilling partnership with Jurel and securing a second victory on the trot for Punjab.
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