Half-centuries by Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal and a 46 by Shimron Hetmyer helped Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by four wickets in Dharamsala on Friday.
Set a target of 188, the Royals lost Jos Buttler early but Jaiswal and Padikkal put on a 73-run partnership to keep them on course. Hetmyer then ensured that the run-rate did not go out of hand.
Royals needed nine off the final over and Dhruv Jurel hit a six off Rahul Chahar to pull off the win with two balls left. Sanju Samson’s team have 14 points after finishing their engagements with a net run-rate of 0.148 and have a slim chance of making the playoffs.
Punjab Kings finished on 12 points and are out of the reckoning for a last-four berth.
Padikkal and Jaiswal fell just after their half centuries but both impressed with their stroke-making.
Jaiswal has been a revelation in this IPL. He’s got the fastest IPL fifty, a hundred and a 98 not out. He has set the record for most runs (625) in a season for an uncapped cricketer and is second on the run-getters list.
Earlier, Punjab Kings overcame a shaky start to finish on 187 for five. The ‘home’ team turned it around through Jitesh Sharma (44 off 28), Sam Curran (49 not out off 31) and Shahrukh Khan (41 not out off 23) as Rajasthan Royals bowlers failed to live up to their reputation in the last few overs.
The England all-rounder and Shahrukh added 73 off 37 balls in an unbroken partnership. Curran and Shahrukh took 28 runs in Yuzvendra Chahal’s final over and penultimate of the innings, to tilt the scales in Punjab’s favour. It included three sixes and a four.
Trent Boult then gave away 18 runs in the final over and Punjab Kings staged a dramatic recovery from 50 for four.
Punjab Kings made a disastrous start as Prabhsimran Singh found it tough to tackle Boult’s pace and swing. He was dismissed off the second ball of the innings as Boult took a terrific diving catch to his right.
