Jaiswal back with a bang

Yashasvi marks his return with 41-ball 68 as Rajasthan beat Punjab by six wickets

Riding on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 41-ball 68, Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings convincingly by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

Batting first, Punjab scored 189-5. In reply, Royals chased the target with two balls to spare.

Royals opener Jaiswal, who managed 25 runs in his first three games, looked determined to prove a point on Saturday. The Mumbai-based left-hander smashed two fours and a six in the opening over off pacer Sandeep Sharma (0-41).

Perfect timing

Jaiswal shouldered the responsibility quite well, despite losing his opening partner Jos Buttler (30 off 16 balls, 5x4, 1x6) in the fourth over. Man of the match Jaiswal reached his maiden half-century off just 33 balls. Perfect timing and placements, exquisite cover drives, late cuts, reverse sweeps and innovative scoop shots were the highlights of his innings.

Yuzvendra Chahal celebrates a wicket on Saturday

Shimron Hetmyer (16-ball 31 not out, 3x4, 2x6) and Devdutt Padikkal (31 off 32 balls, 3x4) also played vital roles in RR’s successful run chase.

Earlier, Yuzvendra Chahal (3-28) was the pick of the bowlers for RR. His leg-spin posed enough problems for the Punjab batsmen.

Chahal, introduced after the Powerplay, was thrashed for a six over long-on by Bhanuka Rajapaksa (27). However, when the Indian spinner came back to bowl in the 11th over, he tempted the Sri Lankan southpaw with a flighted delivery again. However, Rajapaksa missed the line while stepping out before being clean bowled.

RR opener Jonny Bairstow (40-ball 56, 8x4, 1x6) and Jitesh Sharma (38 not out off 18 balls, 4x4, 2x6) were the top run-getters for Punjab.

Bairstow started well, twice dispatching Royals pacer Trent Boult (0-36) to the fence with the flick. He then pulled Boult’s short-pitched ball over the mid-wicket fence for a six. His maiden IPL fifty of IPL-15 came off just 34 balls.

Livingstone v Krishna

A fascinating passage of play took place between PBKS’ Liam Livingstone and RR pacer Prasidh Krishna in the penultimate over. Trying to counter-attack Krishna’s outside the off-stump fuller length balls, Livingstone was seen taking guard way outside the off-stump. He succeeded in hitting a six and a for. Krishna, though, had the last laugh when Livingstone, standing on an imaginary sixth stump, completely missed his yorker that crashed on to the stumps.   

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