Sunday witnessed one of the dramatic chases in the IPL, with Rajasthan Royals beating Kings XI Punjab by four wickets in a high-voltage clash in Sharjah. Steve Smith & Co chased down the target of 224 with three balls to spare after Mayank Agarwal’s maiden IPL century.
After a bright start, Rajasthan’s chase looked improbable when the equation came down to 51 from 18 balls. Rahul Tewatia was promoted to No 4 ahead of experienced Robin Uthappa after Smith departed for a 27-ball 50 in the 10th over. The leg-spinner scored 17 in the first 23 balls and struggled to get going in the middle, raising questions over team management’s strange decision to promote him.
However, he redeemed and completely turned the tide towards Rajasthan by hitting five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell in the 18th over. He scored 53 off 31. Though Sanju Samson and Steve Smith set the platform for the chase, it was Tewatia’s finishing act which helped Rajasthan pull of the highest chase in the history of IPL. Sanju top-scored for the team with 85 while skipper Smith hit his second straight fifty.
Earlier, Agarwal destroyed the tag of a long-format specialist with a 50-ball 106. While the pandemic-enforced break has made a majority of the players rusty, it seems to have worked wonders for the Karnataka opener to tweak his game to meet the needs of T20 format. Twice in three matches this season, he has bettered his highest IPL score. He had made 89 in the opener against Delhi Capitals.
On a pitch where even mishits sail over the boundary line — Sharjah is one of the smallest venues among the three in UAE — Agarwal’s innings was filled with sublime timing and clean hitting. Punjab’s strategy was clear with KL Rahul setting himself well to play as many overs as possible, with Agarwal targeting the bowlers from the word go. And it worked as the Karnataka teammates stitched together a 183-run partnership for the first wicket. While Agarwal set the stage on fire with 10 fours and seven sixes, Rahul’s innings of 69 included seven fours and a solitary six. Brief scores: KXIP 223/2 in 20 ovs (Agarwal 106, Rahul 69) lost to RR 226/6 in 19.3 ovs (Samson 85, Tewatia 51, Smith 50).
