Punjab Kings have dropped Chris Gayle from the playing XI.
Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday staged one of the most remarkable jailbreaks of the IPL. A defeat looked pretty certain at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with Punjab Kings needing just eight runs from the last two overs.
With two set batsmen at the crease in the form of Aiden Makram and Nicholas Pooran, it should have been a walk in the park for Punjab. But Mustafizur Rahman got only four runs in the last over.
Still, Punjab was the favorite when Karthik Tyagi started his run-up for the final over. On the third ball, he gave the catch to Pooran. After bowling a dot to Deepak Hooda, he also patted Sanju Samson behind the stumps.
Tyagi didn’t give new guy Fabian Allen any chance to become a hero. Instead, with another dot ball, he himself became the unlikely hero for the Royals, who won by two runs.
costly mistakes
However, poor fielding and poor end of the innings could have proved very costly for the Royals. KL Rahul was dropped thrice with the help of Punjab captain (49, 33b, 4×4, 2×6) and his Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarwal (67, 43b, 7×4, 2×6). Royals had scored 185 runs.
Arshdeep Singh was the main reason for the Royals to back down after a stellar start. The 22-year-old left-arm seamer bowled brilliantly to take his maiden five-wicket haul in the IPL, showing yet again that he has a mature head on his young shoulders. He kept his cool as the Royals batsmen threatened to explode on several occasions.
Arshdeep provided the breakthrough after Royals’ new opening pair of Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal (49, 36b, 6×4, 2×6) scored fifty runs in five overs. West Indies, on their stellar run in the Caribbean Premier League and in their first game for RR, looked in good form when he was caught at extra cover by a diving Mayank.
Arshdeep also dismissed two other dangerous looking batsmen – Liam Livingstone (25, 17b, 2x, 16) and Mahipal Lomror (42, 17b, 2×4, 4×6). He also finalized the innings by taking two wickets in the last two balls.
last over
0 1 W 0 W 0 (runs required 4; Bowler Solitaire)
score board
Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis c Mayank b Arshdeep 36 (21b, 7×4, 1×6), Yashasvi Jaiswal c Mayank b Harpreet 49 (36b, 6×4, 2×6), Sanju Samson c Rahul b Porel 4 (5b), Liam Livingstone c Allen b Arshdeep 25 (17b) , 2×4, 1×6), Mahipal Lomror c Markram b Arshdeep 43 (17b, 2×4, 4×6), Riyan Parag c Markram b Shami 4 (5b), Rahul Tewatia b Shami 2 (5b), Chris Morris c Markram b Shami 5 (5b) ) ), Chetan Sakariya c and b Arshdeep 7 (6b, 1×4), Karthik Tyagi b Arshdeep 1 (3b), Mustafizur Rahman (not out) 0 (0b); Extra (lb-4, w-5): 9; Total (in 20 overs): 185.
Fall of wickets: 1-54 (Lewis, 5.3 ov), 2-68 (Samson, 7.1), 3-116 (Livingstone, 11.5), 4-136 (Jaiswal, 14.2), 5-166 (Parag, 16.3), 6-169 (Lomror, 16.3) , 17.1), 7-175 (Tevatia, 18.1), 8-178 (Morris, 18.5), 9-185 (Sakaria, 19.5).
Punjab Kings Bowling: Shami 4-0-21-3, Porel 4-0-39-1, Hooda 2-0-37-0, Arshdeep 4-0-32-5, Adil 3-0-35-0, Harpreet 3-0- 17-1.
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul c Tyagi b Sakariya 49 (33b, 4×4, 2×6), Mayank Agarwal c Livingstone b Tewatia 67 (43b, 7×4, 2×6), Aiden Markram (not out) 26 (20b, 2×4, 1×6), Nicholas Pooran c Samson b Tyagi 32 (22b, 1×4, 2×6), Deepak Hooda c Samson b Tyagi 0 (2b), Fabian Allen (not out) 0 (1b); extra(w-8, nb-1): 9; Total (for 4 wickets in 20 overs): 183.
Fall of wickets: 1-120 (Rahul, 11.5), 2-126 (Mayank, 12.6), 3-183 (Pooran, 19.3), 4-183 (Hooda, 19.5).
Royals Bowling: Mustafizur 4-0-30-0, Sakariya 3-0-31-1, Tyagi 4-0-29-2, Morris 4-0-47-0, Tewatia 3-0-23-1, Lomror 1-0- 7-0, pollen 1-0-16-0.
Toss: PBKS; MOM: Solitaire.
Royals won by two runs.
.