Prabhsimran Singh of Punjab Super Kings hitting a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Rajasthan Royals at ACA Stadium in Guwahati on April 5, 2023. Photo Credit: ANI
Half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh helped Punjab Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by five runs in an IPL match here on Wednesday off Nathan Ellis.
Young Prabhasimran (60) and experienced skipper Dhawan (86 not out) tore apart the Rajasthan Royals attack to post a challenging 197 for four after Punjab Kings were put into bat.
The Royals were blasted by Ellis (4/30) before Shimron Hetmyer (35) and young ‘impact player’ Dhruv Jurel (32 not out off 15) stitched a 62-run partnership to bring Rajasthan back in the game.
But IPL’s costliest overseas player Sam Curran brilliantly defended 15 runs in the last over to restrict the Royals to 192 for 7.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh provided the early breakthrough for both the openers. The Royals sent in Ravichandran Ashwin to open in place of Jos Buttler, who had earlier departed after taking a catch off Shah Rukh Khan.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was the first one to go as he sent the ball straight to the fielder. Ashwin’s experiment also failed as the senior spinner got out for a duck.
Coming in at number 3, Butler scored 19 runs in 11 balls. He was dropped in the third over, but could not become Ellis’ first victim of the night.
Captain Sanju Samson (42 off 25) looked in fine touch as he timed the ball well. He smacked Harpreet Brar for back to back boundaries before greeting Ellis with twin fours. Rajasthan’s score was 89 for 3 by the halfway mark. But the Punjab bowlers managed to dry up the boundaries and with the required run rate rising, Samson came under pressure and mistimed the cross seamer by Ellis.
Ellis then sent back local favorite Riyan Parag (20 off 12), who played a quick cameo and Devdutt Padikal (21) before hitting a flurry of sixes and fours from Hetmyer and Jurel to level the equation with 15 runs in the last over. brought down
Earlier, Prabhsimran, who hit seven fours and three sixes, mercilessly punished the Rajasthan bowlers during the first 10 overs and brought up his maiden IPL half-century off 28 balls as Punjab got off to a promising start. He and Dhawan added 90 runs for the opening stand in just 61 balls.
Dhawan, on the other hand, effortlessly changed gears as he played second fiddle to Prabhsimran, scoring a 30-ball 30 at one stage. Once his opening partner was dismissed, Dhawan faced 56 runs in the next 26 balls.
The Punjab Kings skipper was dropped on 50 and played the role of sheet anchor, ensuring that his team scored enough runs on the board with dew. His innings was studded with nine fours and three maximum sixes. Second quarter.
Prabhasimran started off by smacking Trent Boult to spoil the drive in the first over, making his intentions clear. After this, he hit a six off KM Asif in the second over. Dhawan joined the party in the next over with back-to-back fours.
But the young opener lashed out at Asif, on whom he hit three fours and a six in the fourth over. He didn’t even spare Bolt and Ashwin.
The 22-year-old first lofted a length ball over mid-off before cutting it over backward point for a second boundary. He then followed it up with a short-arm pull over the midwicket region for a maximum.
The introduction of spin didn’t faze Prabhasimran as he continued his spree of hitting boundaries off Ashwin with two consecutive fours, taking Punjab to 63/0 in the powerplay.
With a half-century in his kitty, Prabhasimran welcomed Boult back for his second spell with a flat bat down the ground.
His brilliant innings came to an end courtesy of Jason Holder and Buttler, who took a sensational catch diving forward from long-on.
Punjab suffered another blow when Dhawan’s powerful drive hit Bhanuka Rajapaksa on his right hand, forcing the Sri Lankan to retire hurt at 1.
A spectator to Prabhsimran for most part of the innings, Dhawan played some well-timed shots to bring up his half-century in 36 balls.
Jitesh Sharma played his 15-ball 27, which included an 89-metre six off Boult.
Spinners Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal were able to stem the run flow and dismissed Jitesh and Sikandra Raza in quick succession.
Holder (2/29) then took a wicket and conceded just seven runs to leave Punjab short of the 200-run mark.