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Yashasvi Jaiswal (50, 36b, 8×4) and Devdutt Padikkal’s (51, 30b, 5×4, 3×6) fifties were complemented by Shimron Hetmyer’s cameo as Rajasthan Royals ensured it had its neck just above the water in the race for the IPL playoffs with a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.
As PBKS failed to reach the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, life came full circle for Impact Player Dhruv Jurel, who had announced himself with a brilliant knock in a losing cause against the same opposition earlier in the tournament.
With six needed off three balls and the sea of red in Dharamsala geeing up Rahul Chahar, Jurel dealt PBKS the fatal blow and silenced the crowd with a six down the ground.
Hetmyer had done his bit in getting under the skin of the home side with a match-winning knock and some theatrics. With the asking rate nearing 10 with four overs remaining, Hetmyer was dropped on 36 off Sam Curran and then survived a caught behind decision in the same over after it was overturned on appeal. A frustrated Curran exchanged words with Hetmyer, who kept his calm before being dismissed by the Englishman with nine runs needed.
The platform was laid by Jaiswal and Padikkal’s 73-run stand after Buttler set the record for the most ducks scored in a single season of the IPL.
Jaiswal started off in typical fashion, using the bounce of the pitch for three consecutive fours in the first over off Curran. Padikkal, however, was the aggressor in the partnership between the southpaws and reached his fifty off 29 balls.
RR wouldn’t have had to scramble over the line had it not been for Shahrukh Khan (41 n.o., 23b, 4×4, 2×6) and Sam Curran’s (49, 31b, 4×4, 2×6) cameos.
In a 28-run penultimate over, Shahrukh exhibited his long levers with a four and a six through midwicket off Yuzvendra Chahal before Curran hammered 14 runs off three balls. Shahrukh then, with some luck, walloped Trent Boult for 18 runs off the final over as PBKS got 46 runs off the last 12 balls – which eventually wasn’t enough as RR dominated the PowerPlay and middle-overs, largely through brilliant spells from Trent Boult, Navdeep Saini and Adam Zampa.
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