Dubai: Rajasthan Royals held their nerves till the end to seal a 2 run victory over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League(IPL) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. The hero of the victory was undeniably seamer Kartik Tyagi who did the unthinkable. Punjab needed 4 runs off the penultimate over and that too with 8 wickets in hand however, the youngster from Uttar Pradesh managed to defend it conceeding just a single while picking up a couple to clinch a victory from the jaws of defeat for his side.
Punjab’s opening duo KL Rahul (49) Mayank Agarwal (67) gave their side a solid start chasing a target of 186 as they stitched an outstanding 120 run stand inside 12 overs. Both of them though fell in quick succession trying pace up the chase more. The middle order comprising Nicholas Pooran (32) Aiden Markram (26*) got their side to the edge of the finish with lusty blows until the final over which they choked in completely despite having the upper hand on the majority. On a day, when his teammates were biting the dust, Tyagi(2/29) produced a gem of a spell with support from Rahul Tewatia(1/23).
Earlier, Evin Lewis(36) gave a blistering start to Punjab getting 56 inside the powerplay while his partner Yashasvi Jaiswal after a steady start started opening shoulders especially after the departure of his partner. He fell just a single short of what would have a deserving first half century in IPL but he miscued it to find Mayank Agarwal.
Sanju Samson failed to impress much in his first outing of the second phase of this season handing his wicket to debutant Ishan Porel who after getting some hammering finally got something to cheer. Youngster Mahipal Lomror made sure the scoring rate didn’t drop as clobbered a swashbuckling 17 ball 43 to propel Rajasthan’s innings despite Punjab’s bowlers making a comeback in the later part of the innings. Youngster Arshdeep Singh(5/32) lead the charge while his senior Mohammed Shami(3/21) gave him good support bundling Rajasthan out for 185.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 185 all-out in their 20 overs(Yashasvi Jaiswal 49, Mahipal Lomror 47; Arshdeep Singh 5/32, Mohammed Shami 3/21) beat Punjab Kings 183/4 in 20 overs , (KL Rahul 49, Mayank Agarwal 67; Kartik Tyagi 2/29, Rahul Tewatia 1/23) by 2 runs.
