Rajasthan Royals 190 for 4 (Jaiswal 68, Hetmyer 31*, Padikkal 31, Arshdeep 2-29) beat Punjab Kings 189 for five (Bairstow 56, Jitesh 38*, Chahal 3-28) by six wickets
Opening the bowling, Trent Boult discovered swing along with his first supply, nevertheless it ended up on the pads and Bairstow flicked it by way of midwicket for 4. Three balls later, Boult switched to across the wicket, however once more strayed down the leg facet. Bairstow helped it previous quick tremendous leg for one more boundary. However Boult made a robust comeback in his second over – bowling a maiden to Shikhar Dhawan – however went for 18 in his third as Bairstow and Shikhar hit him for 2 fours and a six.
R Ashwin despatched again Shikhar within the closing over of the powerplay, with Buttler back-pedalling at mid-on, leaping excessive, and plucking the ball out of the air along with his proper hand. However Bairstow and Bhanuka Rajapaksa saved the assault on. Going through solely his third ball, Rajapaksa smashed Yuzvendra Chahal for six. Two overs later, he launched Kuldeep Sen over long-off earlier than hitting Prasidh Krishna for back-to-back fours. Bairstow, too, discovered the boundary at common intervals and the 2 took the facet to 88 for 1 after ten overs.
Coming into this recreation, Kings had the bottom scoring charge (6.80) in opposition to spin among the many ten groups within the match. And spin as soon as once more proved to be their Achilles’ heel. Rajapaksa stepped out to Chahal solely to be bowled. Bairstow introduced up his half-century, his first of the season, off 34 balls however Chahal returned to dismiss Mayank Agarwal and Bairstow in the identical over. That left Kings on 122 for 4 after 15 overs with two new batters on the crease.
Jitesh, Livingstone end strongly
It appeared like Royals would possibly limit Kings to 175 however Jitesh took the lead and hit Prasidh for 2 consecutive fours earlier than walloping Chahal for a six. Livingstone was on 12 off ten balls earlier than hitting Prasidh for a six and a 4 within the house of three balls. However the seamer minimize his innings quick when he moved too far throughout to a full and straight ball and was bowled. Within the closing over, Jitesh hit Sen for six, 4, 4 off successive balls to make sure a robust end.
It was a frightening goal however Royals received off to a blazing begin with Jaiswal hitting Sandeep Sharma for 2 fours and 6 within the first over. Within the fourth over, Buttler took Kagiso Rabada to the cleaners, smashing him for 3 fours and 6. However the bowler had the final snort. On the final ball of the over, Buttler shuffled throughout to lap Rabada over quick tremendous leg nevertheless it was bowled full at his ft. Buttler realised the ball wasn’t there for the shot, modified his thoughts and tried to assist it over quick third man however could not clear the fielder.
It appeared like Kings may breathe simply for some time, however Buttler, with a mixture of energy, timing and luck, had collected 4 fours within the first seven balls he confronted. So, on the finish of eight overs, Royals have been 85 for 1.
Rishi Dhawan despatched Samson again for 23 off 12 balls when the batter skied one to cover-point. Batting at No. 4, Padikkal received caught in first gear however Jaiswal’s strokeplay saved Royals abreast with the asking charge.
Within the 18th over, bowled by Rabada, Padikkal too chipped in with two fours with a Hetmyer six sandwiched in between. That over produced 16 runs and introduced the equation all the way down to 11 from 12 balls. Arshdeep as soon as once more conceded solely three and dismissed Padikkal, however the equation was very a lot in Royals’ favour.
With eight wanted from the ultimate over, Chahar began with a large down the leg facet. Hetmyer then lofted the subsequent ball over long-on to stage the scores. Two balls later, he chipped a full toss in direction of long-on for the profitable run.