Jaiswal, Hetmyer help Rajasthan beat Punjab as Lucknow go atop with KKR romp
Ater Bairstow’s 58 and Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 38 took Punjab to 189/5, Jaiswal shined in his comeback match of IPL 2022, hiting his shots well and picking the gaps easily
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal marked his return to Rajasthan Royals’ playing eleven with a scintillating 68 while Shimron Hetmyer exhibited his finishing exploits in an unbeaten 31 to help the inaugural IPL winners defeat Punjab Kings by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Ater Jonny Bairstow’s 58 and Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 38 took Punjab to 189/5, Jaiswal shined in his comeback match of IPL 2022, hiting his shots well and picking the gaps easily. Ater he fell, Devdut Padikkal struggled to get going. But Hetmyer ensured that Rajasthan chased down the total to successfully break their two-match losing streak and keep themselves in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs.
Jaiswal began by slamming two fours through cuts in the off-side and a glorious picked-up six over deep square leg. Jos Butler joined the attacking party in the fourth over, launching Kagiso Rabada for a six over deep midwicket. He followed it up with three fours -- carving one through extra cover, a lap-pull over short fine leg while in air and smoked through cover. But Rabada had the last laugh, having an over-improvising Butler caught at short third man.
Sanju Samson took over the atacking mantle ater Butler’s fall, finding luck in geting fours through edges twice while nailing other boundaries with sheer timing through point and cover. But his stay at the crease ended when he miscued to long-off off Rishi Dhawan.
Jaiswal continued with his charge, heaving a four over Sandeep Sharma’s head and produced a stunning inside-out loted six over extra cover off Rahul Chahar. Sharma came under from Jaiswal again when he carted back-to-back fours -- slapping over long-off and playing a silken late cut through the third man.
He reached his maiden fity of the tournament in 33 balls. Jaiswal then followed it up with three fours off Dhawan in the 13th over -- a smack over long-on, scoop flying over short third man and nailing drive past cover. Ater taking another four through reverse sweep off Chahar, Jaiswal tried to take over Arshdeep Singh but holed out to long-off, breaking the 56-run stand.
With 47 runs needed off the last five overs, Hetmyer clipped Rabada through fine leg and cracked successive boundaries in the arc between mid-wicket and long-on. Hetmyer and Padikkal took four and six respectively off Rabada to make the equation really easy for Rajasthan.
Arshdeep nailed his yorkers in a top-class 19th over and got Padikkal out with a low full toss chipped to cover. Hetmyer dispatched Chahar for a six over wide long-on and finished off the chase with a single in the same region to seal Rajasthan’s first win of the tournament in a chase.
Meanwhile, fast bowlers Avesh Khan and Jason Holder took three wickets each to propel Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to the IPL summit with a thumping 75-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.
Quinton de Kock, who made a 29-ball 50, and Deepak Hooda, who hit 41 off 27 deliveries, put on 71 runs to the lay the foundation of Lucknow’s 176 for seven ater being put in to bat first in Pune.
Bowlers then combined to help Lucknow, who replace fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans at the top of the 10-team table, bundle out Kolkata for 101 in 14.3 overs. Kolkata were never in the chase ater they lost their top four including skipper Shreyas Iyer, for six, and Aaron Finch, for 14, early. They fell to 25-4. West Indies big-hiter Andre Russell gave them some hope during his 19-ball 45 but the innings fell apart ater his departure.
Russell atempted to turn the tide with three fours and five sixes but was caught at third-man off Avesh who finished with figures of 3-19.
Holder wrapped up the Kolkata innings with two successive wickets and a run out.
The let-right bating pair of De Kock and Hooda set up victory ater they took the atack to the opposition bowlers following skipper KL Rahul’s run out for nought in the first over.
Marcus Stoinis, who hammered 28 off 14, and Jason Holder, who made a four-ball 13, also added to the total with their breezy cameos and hit five sixes between them in a 30-run over from Shivam Mavi.