Jaiswal, Chahal keep Royals in the hunt for playoff berth
RR ride opener’s 68 and leggie’s 3/28 to chase down 190 with six wickets in hand
MUMBAI: At the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, a returning Yashasvi Jaiswal enthralled his home crowd in Rajasthan Royals colours. his delightful exhibition of stroke play helping chase down Punjab Kings’ challenging total of 189 and consolidate their position for playoffs.
Getting to play his first game for over a month, the 20-yearold produced a match-winning 68 off 41 balls.
Cameos from Jos Buttler and skipper Sanju Samson gave Royals a flying start before Jaiswal took control. Royals needed 49 off 34 balls when he got out, but Shimron Hetmyer took them over the line in 19.4 overs, scoring an unbeaten 31 off 16 balls.
Their first victory chasing this season revived RR’S campaign after two defeats and helped stay third (14 points, 11 games) in the table with a healthy net run rate of 0.326. PBKS’ habit of winning and losing alternate matches has left them on 10 points from 11 games. After a third loss in five games, things look tough.
The defining phase for RR in the chase was when Jaiswal took control from the 11th over, hitting seven of his nine fours in that period before falling in the 15th over to PBKS’ best bowler, Arshdeep Singh. Jaiswal first hit two fours off Sandeep Sharma, then three off Rishi Dhawan before two off legspinner Rahul Chahar. After an opening stand of 46 with Buttler, Jaiswal added 56 runs for the fourth wicket with Devdutt Padikkal, who arrived in the ninth over.
Padikkal’s 32-ball 31 may look slow, but he played according to the situation. With Jaiswal in full flow, he played a support role and avoided undue risks.
Punjab Kings rode on the knocks of opener Jonny Bairstow (56—40b, 8x4, 1x6), and Jitesh Sharma (38*—18 b, 4x4, 2x6) and Liam Livingstone (22—14b, 1x4, 2x6).
But the way RR batters chased it down with ease showed PBKS had ended up some 15 runs short on a good Wankhede Stadium pitch with dew not a factor.
It was again PBKS’ issues against spin that proved costly. RR’S Yuzvendra Chahal (4-028-3) and R Ashwin (4-0-32-1) were superb. Bowling with guile, Chahal provided crucial breakthroughs to prevent Punjab batters from running away with the game after being set. The highlight was Chahal’s double strike in the 15th over, getting Mayank Agarwal to hole out to long-on and trapping Bairstow leg-before two balls later. Chahal’s first wicket was the explosive Bhanuka Rajapaksa. The left-hander took on the spinner by skipping down the track but Chahal slipped in one from the front of the hand to bowl him.
Chahal now has 22 wickets this season. This is the fourth time he has taken 20 or more wickets in an IPL season, emulating Lasith Malinga.
Brief scores: PBKS 189/5 in 20 overs (J Bairstow 56, J Sharma 38; Y Chahal 3/28); RR 190/4 in 19.4 overs (Y Jaiswal 68, D Padikkal 31, S Hetmyer 31*; Arshdeep Singh 2/29).