Twitter Reactions: Punjab Kings beat Rajasthan Royals in hard-fought contest to make it two in two
Punjab Kings won by five runs in a thriller.
The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati hosted its first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) match as Punjab Kings registered their second win of the campaign against Rajasthan Royals. The two sides took the field in Match 8 of the lucrative T20 competition as Shikhar Dhawan's Kings won by five runs.
Upon winning the toss, Sanju Samson put the opposition team into bat first. What followed was a clinical batting performance by openers Prabhsimran Singh and skipper Dhawan, who immediately hit the ground running with the aim to get a big score on the board.
Prabhsimran took the powerplay to his advantage and got the boundaries effortlessly. On the other hand, Dhawan kept rotating the strike and let his partner do much of the action with the bat. In just 28 balls, Prabhsimran notched up his fifty with seven boundaries and two maximums to his name. Jason Holder drew first blood as he got the vital scalp of the 22-year-old right-hander.
Dhawan then took the onus and slammed three sixes and nine fours to get an unbeaten 86 runs individually which helped the side to conclude with a massive 197 runs on the board. Meanwhile, Holder got two scalps whereas Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal got one wicket apiece.
Hetmyer and Jurel fight hard in thrilling run chase
The equation for Samson’s Royals was quite tricky during the chase and required a strong start to get back into the contest. Interestingly, the side introduced veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal so as to replicate a similar powerplay performance like the Kings.
However, the move immediately backfired as the duo headed back to the dugout well within four overs. Middle-order batters, Samson and Devdutt Padikkal tried to revive the chase as the skipper swiftly hammered boundaries to keep the required run rate in check.
Despite putting up a fight, Nathan Ellis played an instrumental role with the ball as he dented the chase further with a four-wicket haul. Samson was sent packing for 42 whereas Padikkal and Riyan Parag were dismissed for 21 and 20 runs respectively.
Rajasthan pinned their hopes on Shimron Hetmyer and their Impact Player Dhruv Jurel to get to the finish line. The two helped the side claw their way back into the contest by getting 61 runs off 26 balls between them. Royals got the match down to the wire but it was Punjab who eventually prevailed by winning the thrilling affair. Sam Curran proved his mettle in the final over and handed his side a win by five runs.
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