Punjab Kings 145 for 5 (Churran 63*, Avesh 2-28, Chahal 2-31) lost Rajasthan Royals 144 for 9 (Barack 48, Ashwin 28, Curran 2-24, Chahar 2-26, Harshal 2-28) by five wickets
Form can change quickly in T20s, and in a league like the IPL, non-stop action can turn the tide quickly. After Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals (RR) became the second team to prove it in this IPL. But unlike RCB, who have won five straight matches, RR have now lost four in a row.
Curran rings in transitions
Sanju Samson chose to bat in the first match of this IPL at Parsapara Stadium. After four overs, the game was not going either way, with RR at 31 for 1. Curran dismissed Yashvi Jaiswal on the fourth ball.
Samson hit three fours off his first eight balls, punching Arshdeep Singh off the full face of the bat. At the other end, Tom Kohler-Cotmore, who came in for Jos Buttler, got off to a quieter start.
Curran introduced Nathan Ellis in the fifth over. Ellis bowled cutters on a slower pitch where the ball seemed to stop, and bowled a few to a difficult length. That’s when RR slowed down. The next 3.2 overs went for just 11 runs, with Samson and Koehler-Cotmore both out for 18 runs.
Barak, Ashwin battle in the middle overs
PPKS started in the sixth over and bowled ten dot balls in three overs. While Ellis and Harshal Patel made good use of variations, Rahul Chahar saw the turn. With two right-arm batsmen in Barak and R Ashwin at the crease, Curran bowled the ninth over to left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar. But Ashwin managed a streaky boundary to score 10 runs in that over.
RR were only 68 in 11 overs when Ashwin counter-attacked. He slogs Chahar over midwicket for six before reverse sweeping and lofting him over covers for four. But when Arshdeep had scored 28 off 19 balls, Ashwin ended the party with a catch at deep point in the very next over.
Barak continued to struggle as RR scored 102 for 6 in the 15th over. By then, Curran Dhruv didn’t duck Jurel and Sahar Rowman Powell was caught for 4 and bowled. The death overs (17-20) began with RR on 113 as Barak was walloped and cut Arshdeep for successive boundaries.
PBKS denied Barak strike in the 19th over. By the 20th over, Harschel had trapped Barak for 48 with his trademark dipping, slow full toss, and the Purple Caps had turned heads again, with Harschel on 22 wickets, two ahead of Jasprit Bumrah.
Curran and Jitesh spoiled RR’s first two chances
But Jitesh and Curran didn’t let RR run away with the game just yet. Jitesh pulled his second ball for a six before hitting a lucky boundary on the lower edge off Kurran Chahal. Curran swiping Chahal wide at long-on, swatting Ashwin at deep extra cover, and chasing Boult behind square all kept them ticking over singles in successive overs.
The required rate rose to 9.33 per over with six overs remaining when both Jitesh and Curran hit Ashwin for a six each. But Jitesh was caught off Chahal in the next over, before PPKS brought in Ashutosh Sharma for an impact sub, and the match was soon over.
Ashutosh lifted Avesh for four before Curran and Ashutosh hit three sixes in five balls to level the scores and seal the victory soon after.
Himanshu Aggarwal is Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo
„Całkowity introwertyk. Nieprzejednany specjalista od sieci. Przyjazny fanatyk bekonu. Student ekstremalnych. Miłośnik piwa. Organizator.”