CHENNAI: A professional display by Rajasthan Royals helped them beat Punjab Kings by three wickets in a thrilling match that went down to the wire at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (39) gave the table toppers a good start and Shimron Hetmyer finished the game in style with a six off the penultimate ball of the game.
Chasing 148 for a win, their openers Jaiswal (39) and Tanush Kotian (24) gave a good start. Then Samson was expected to consolidate but failed this time around. Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel assessed the conditions for a while and once they grew in confidence runs came but not at the expected clip. Parag fell after an 18-ball 23, holing out Arshdeep in the deep with Rabada taking the prized catch. Jurel too perished due to poor shot selection. Suddenly Punjab were sight of victory. But Shimron Hetmyer with a valuable 27 not out won the game for Rajasthan.
Earlier, Avesh Khan and Keshav Maharaj took two wickets each at the right junctures to prevent Punjab from breaching the 150-run mark. After half the batters were back in the dugout without troubling the scorers Jitesh Sharma (29) and Ashutosh Sharma (31) played sensibly to help their team post a respectable score.
Put in to bat Punjab Kings had a good start with Atharva Taide and Jonny Bairstow striking well. When the duo looked like making optimum use of the power play, Atharva fell to Avesh Khan. Then Bairstow and Prabhsimran Singh joined together in earnest they tried to do the rescue act, but could not force the pace. This is when Sanju Samson brought in his spinners and was suitably rewarded.
First Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of Prabhsimran Singh and later Maharaj accounted for Bairstow who played a faint shot straight to Hetmyer at covers. The next man in Sam Curran, who was leading the team in place of Shikhar Dhawan (down with a niggle), was under immense pressure and could not last long. Maharaj induced Sam to play a false stroke to Dhruv Jurel at deep mid-wicket.
Thus Punjab were reduced to 52 for 4 and never really managed to recover.
Both teams were made to have forced changes due to injuries and niggles to key players.
Jos Butler was not 100% fit and R Ashwin too had a niggle, so Rovman and Tanush Kotian came into the playing XI.
For Punjab Atharva Taide came in place of Shikhar and Livingstone was back as well
Brief scores: PBKS 147/8 on 20 overs (Jitesh 29. Ashutosh 31; Keshav Maharaj 2/23) lost to Rajasthan Royals 152/7 in 19.5 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 39, Shimron Hetmyer 27; Kagiso Rabada 2/18)