Shimron Hetmyer has moulded himself into a successful finisher in this IPL. The Guyanese has left behind the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Tewatia through his calculative approach in the slog overs.
Rajasthan Royals’ chase of 190 at the Wankhede on Saturday evening got a bit nervy once Devdutt Padikkal failed to find his rhythm and Arshdeep Singh conceded only three runs in the 19th over. With eight runs needed off the last over, Hetmyer hit a six off Rahul Chahar’s second ball to level the scores.
The winning run also came from Hetmyer’s bat with two balls remaining. The six-wicket victory was the Royals’ first this season while chasing as they took another step closer to the play-offs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal led the chase after returning as Jos Buttler’s opening partner. Two boundaries and a six over deep square leg propelled the chase in Sandeep Sharma’s first over. Buttler then took over, smashing a six and three boundaries in Kagiso Rabada’s second over. But an attempted scoop over fine-leg brought about his downfall in the same over.
Sanju Samson failed to do justice to his bright start but Jaiswal steered the chase with his 68 off 41 balls. The Royals needed 49 off 34 balls when he was dismissed, but Hetmyer’s 31 not out off 16 balls ensured the momentum wasn’t lost.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan’s early departure had no impact as Jonny Bairstow took up the cudgels to anchor the Punjab innings.
The Royals’ bowling made very little impact except for the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. The wrist spinner made the most impact with his variation and change of pace. After bowling Bhanuka Rajapaksa through the gate, Chahal induced Mayank Agarwal to go for the big hit and had him caught at long on. More misery was in store as Bairstow was trapped leg before a ball later.
For a side that is packed with power-hitters, Punjab Kings have the lowest scoring rate (6.83) against spin in this edition. The next worst are Mumbai Indians with 7.59. The Royals lead the charts with 8.93.
