Shot of the Day - Ashutosh Sharma's wild slog leaves Avesh Khan awestruck - PBKS vs RR IPL 2024

Punjab Kings batter Ashutosh Sharma continued to shine with the bat for his side as he played his third consecutive crucial innings against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, April 13 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh.

The 25-year-old walked in to bat with his team reeling at 103/6 after 16.1 overs and wasted no time in settling down batting in top gear right from the word go. Ashutosh played a quick-fire cameo of 31 off 16 balls with the help of one four and three sixes and helped Punjab post a respectable total of 147/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Also Read: IPL 2024 Qualification Scenarios: How can Punjab Kings qualify for playoffs losing to RR?

In an innings full of brutal strokeplay, Ashutosh stole the limelight with his wild slog over Avesh Khan in the 19^th over. On the third ball of the over, the right-arm seamer bowled a good length delivery targeting his stumps. However, the PBKS batter quickly read the line and got down on one knee to hoick it over deep mid-wicket for a maximum. Two balls later, he further smashed him for another six launching a slower delivery over long off with a flat bat.

Watch Ashutosh Sharma’s shot here:

The 25-year-old is having a good season with the bat having scored 95 runs from three innings at an average of 47.50 and a strike rate of 197.91. However, despite his valiant knock, the youngster couldn’t save his team from a loss.

Also Read: Why are Shikhar Dhawan, Jos Buttler and Ashwin not playing IPL 2024 Match 27 between PBKS vs RR?

Shimron Hetmyer takes Rajasthan over the line

Coming back to the match, After being put in to bat first, Punjab struggled throughout their innings and managed to score 147/8 in their allotted 20 overs courtesy of contributions from Jitesh Sharma (29 off 24), Liam Livingstone (21 off 14) and Ashutosh Sharma.

In reply, Rajasthan also found it tough on the slowish surface but eventually got over the line in the final over courtesy of a quick-fire cameo from Shimron Hetmyer (27* off 10). Apart from him, Yashasvi Jaiswal (39 off 28) and Riyan Parag (23 off 18) also made valuable contributions. Following their win, Rajasthan maintained the top spot on the points table with ten points from six matches while Punjab slipped to eighth position having four points from six matches.