Rajasthan Royals (RR) pulled off a stunning four-wicket victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Dharamsala on Friday (May 19) to stay afloat in IPL 2023's playoff contention.
Dhruv Jurel's last-over six extracted win for RR from jaws of defeat which ensured PBKS' elimination from IPL 2023.
Riding on Sam Curran's 49 off 31, Jitesh Sharma's 48 off 28 and Shahrukh Khan's 41 off 23 PBKS posted a competitive total of 187/5. Navdeep Saini was the pick of the bowler for RR as he returned with a bowling figure of 3/40. In reply, RR chased down the target with two balls to spare as Yashasvi Jiswal's 50 off 36 and Devdutt Padikkal's 51 off 30 set the tone for Men in Pink's victory.
While chasing a stiff total of 187/5, RR got off to a shaky start as they lost their ace batter Jos Buttler on a duck in the very second over. Buttler created an all-time unwanted IPL record as he clocked his fifth duck in the 16th edition of the glitzy league , which is the most by any batter in an IPL season. It was Kagiso Rabada who extended Buttler's nightmarish season on the fourth ball of the second over.
But Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal knew the importance of the match as they combined to steady RR's boat. The dazzling duo stitched together a 72-run stand and took RR's scoreboard from a precarious 12/1 to 85/1.
But Arshdeep Singh gave PBKS the much needed breakthrough and dismissed the dangerous looking Padikkal in 10th over on 51 off 30. PBKS made a stunning comeback and went on to get flurry of wickets as Sanju Samson returned back to pavilion after scoring just 2 off 3. Jaiswal also couldn't hold himself for too long after cracking an impressive fifty (50 off 36) and followed his skipper to pavilion in the 15th over.
The misfiring Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer (46 off 28) had the onus to take RR to the finishing line. But Parag failed to make impact again and was dismissed by Rabada (2/40) after playing a cameo of 20 off 12. Hetmyer kept smashing PBKS' bowlers all-around the park and almost took the game away from Punjab but his stay was halted by Sam Curran (1/46) in the 19th over. PBKS yet again made a comeback into the game but to only delay the inevitable. RR needed nine off the last over with Dhruv Jurel and Trent Boult (1 off 2) in the middle. The duo scored four runs in the first three balls to take the equation to five off the remaining balls. Jurel (10 off 4) held his nerve and stole thunder with an incredible six off the fourth ball to seal the game for RR and eliminate PBKS from playoff contention.
Earlier, in their final IPL league match, PBKS put up a competitive total of 187 for 5 against the Rajasthan Royals, thanks to impressive contributions from Sam Curran (49 not out), Jitesh Sharma (44), and Shahrukh Khan (41 not out).
The visitors got the ball rolling early, claiming three wickets while conceding just 48 runs in the first six overs. Trent Boult got the visitors off to a quick start, taking his seventh wicket in the first over of the powerplay this season when he caught Prabhsimran Singh (2) off his own bowling.
That did not deter captain Shikar Dhawan and Atharva Taide, who took to the Royals' bowlers, clubbing 36 for the second wicket before Taide (19) was out caught by Devd\utt Padikkal off Navdeep Saini.
The Kings skipper was next to go as he was trapped plumb in front of his stumps by Adam Zampa, having added 17 to the score.
Saini, who last appeared in Royals colours on the second of April, rattled Liam Livingstone’s wickets only two balls after the Kings crossed the 50-run mark, as the Englishman was sent back to the dugout for nine runs with his side in a spot of bother on 50/4 after 6.3 overs.
Sharma and Curran then steadied the ship for the home side, sharing 28 to see the Kings to 78 at the halfway mark.
The middle-order duo continued to frustrate the visiting bowlers by rotating the strike regularly. At the same time, Sharma found the boundary on several occasions to take their team to 100 while also bringing up the 50 partnership for the fifth wicket.
Sharma took 14 runs from Saini’s third over, but the right-arm quick had the final laugh when the batter skied an attempted big shot to be comfortably caught on 44 by substitute fielder Donovan Ferreira as the Kings moved to 114 and half the side back in the shed.
Curran and Shahrukh Khan added 39 to take the Kings’ past 150, as Chahal, who conceded 12 from his first three overs, conceded 28, which included a dropped catch, from his final over as the partnership breached 50 with one over left.
Khan struck 18 from the final over by Boult as the Kings clubbed 46 runs in the last 12 deliveries including four boundaries and four sixes. Saini ended with 3/40 from his four overs, while Zampa and Boult ended with 1/26 and 1/35 respectively in their allotted four-over quotas.
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