Rajasthan limped past the finish line in the last of their regular-season matches of IPL 2023. A four-wicket win over the equally out-of-form Punjab Kings took them to 14 points, though that is unlikely to be enough for a place in the play-offs. Despite another superb half-century from Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Royals made hard work of a tricky chase. Here are our takeaways from the game.
Jurel seals it with a six
Before taking strike for the final over, Dhruv Jurel had faced 20 balls of spin bowling this IPL. He had made just 19 runs off those. So the match-up seemed to favour Rahul Chahar, the Punjab Kings leg-spinner. But Jurel scampered two off the first ball, and after two singles left Rajasthan needed five from the last three, he sauntered down the track and launched one in the direction of the sightscreen. Having found innumerable ways to lose over the past month, the Royals could thank one of their inexperienced players for keeping them afloat in the tournament. At least for a few more hours.
Buttler goes from Orange cap to Quack Quack
In IPL 2022, Jos Buttler smashed four centuries and 863 runs as Rajasthan reached the final. Only Virat Kohli has made more runs in an IPL season. He began this season with similar intent. But then, like his team, the wheels have well and truly come off. Buttler finished the season with three consecutive ducks. His five no-scores for the campaign is a new record. Had Sanju Samson or Shimron Hetmyer been able to step up as Buttler faded, then the Royals wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. As it was, Yashasvi Jaiswal, still only 21, had to carry the team.
Parag cameo breaks game open
In normal circumstances, a team would be extremely confident of making 33 from the final three overs with Hetmyer at the crease. But like the other A-listers in the Rajasthan line-up, Hetmyer had a shocking second half of the season, with 63 runs from his last six completed innings before arriving in Dharamsala. So, when Kagiso Rabada came on to bowl his final over, the game was very much in the balance. Facing him was Riyan Parag, whose underwhelming season had seen him score 58 runs off 54 balls. After a no-ball, Parag whiplashed a pull and then swung one like a fairway wood to bring the equation down to 20 from 16. That was the game right there.
Rajasthan Royals rode on Yashasvi, Padikkal’s crucial 5️⃣0️⃣ s & Hetmyer’s glittering 46 to chase down Punjab’s challenging total of 187.
PBKS: 187-5 (20)
RR: 189-6 (19.4)📸 @IPL #PBKSvsRR #RRvsPBKS #IPLPlayOffs #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/1foPzTKTgZ
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) May 19, 2023
Saini sparkles in rare outing
Even by the standards of the IPL, Navdeep Saini is one expensive bench-warmer. Rajasthan paid Rs. 2.6 crores for him at the 2022 auction. He ended up bowling six overs last season. Before Friday night, his IPL 2023 had been restricted to two overs in Hyderabad in early April, where the Sunrisers batters carted him for 34. But just as the batters loved the conditions in Dharamsala, so did Saini, who made best use of the pace and bounce on offer. He cut short a promising innings from Atharva Taide, and returned late on to have the dangerous Jitesh Sharma caught in the deep. But the highlight was undoubtedly the wicket of Liam Livingstone. He swung for the nearby peaks and missed by a distance. Saini didn’t, and the ball made a mess of the stumps.
Zampa hints at what Royals may have missed
R Ashwin didn’t play because of back spasms, and Yuzvendra Chahal was smacked for three sixes in a wicket-less spell that went for 40. The pick of the bowlers on either side was Adam Zampa, who trapped Shikhar Dhawan plumb in front and was the only one not to be hit for a six. Given how Ashwin lost steam as the season wore on, and Chahal struggled in most matches at home, Zampa perhaps deserved more than the six matches he got.
Shahrukh tees off
This match became a contest only because of the last two overs of Punjab’s innings. After 18 overs, the run-rate was still under 8 an over. Then, Chahal was taken for 28 in an over, and Trent Boult for 18. Shahrukh Khan, who had been on a pedestrian 12 off 14 balls, added 29 to his score off the last nine deliveries he faced. His power-packed hitting has been the talk of the domestic circuit, and he gave further evidence of it while taking down two vastly experienced bowlers. It wasn’t enough, but it gave us another last-ball finish.