Guwahati: Sam Curran led from the front with an all-round performance before departing for his native England as an unpredictable Punjab Kings got the better of hosts Rajasthan Royals in a low-scoring encounter at Barsapara Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.
Royals bowlers did their best to defend a well below-par IPL-standard 144 but despite their effort, the total proved to be at least 15-20 runs short in the end to make a match out of it in the northeast.
Curran first took 2-24 from his three overs before scoring an unbeaten 41-ball 63 to overshadow home boy Riyan Parag’s responsible 48 in the first innings as Punjab reached home to a five-wicket win with seven balls to spare. This IPL’s revelation Ashutosh Sharma came in as an Impact player for the Kings and remained not out with Curran scoring 17 off 11 balls.
All the Royals bowlers did well to keep the Kings batters on toes for most part of the chase with Avesh Khan being the pick of them scalping two for 28 runs in 3.5 overs. Both his wickets – of Rilee Rossouw and Shashank Singh – came in the fifth over of the second innings to raise some hopes for the home side early on.
Jitesh Sharma joined hands with Curran for a 63-run fifth wicket stand which proved crucial for the Kings to reach home safely in the end.
Earlier, Parag’s story summed up the Royals innings as his matured and labourious 34-ball 48 helped the ‘home’ team to a painstaking 144 for nine wickets.
Out of the race for Qualifiers, Punjab bowlers put up a disciplined show to never allow any freebies to the Royals batters and restricted them to below-par score in the end despite Riyan’s responsible innings and a cameo by Ravichandran Ashwin at No. 5.
Curran, Rahul Chahar and Harshal Patel took two wickets each while Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis scalped one apiece at good economy rate to always keep the break on the Royals batters as they could never break free on a track which looked like a belter at the toss.
Opting to bat first, Sanju Samson & Co. never got off to a start they were looking for at their second home. Explosive English opener Jos Buttler’s departure ensured the IPL of compatriot Tom Kohler-Cadmore but the uncapped England opener failed to provide the breezy start Butler is known for. He returned to the pavilion scoring 18 off 23 balls after India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had departed in the first over itself, inside edging an inswinging Curran delivery. Royals could put up only 38/1 in Powerplay, one of their slowest start this season, and were reduced to 42/3 in 7.2 overs, scoring at below 6 per over.
Captain Samson, who broke the 500-run mark for the first time in a single season this IPL, also failed to accelerate and returned scoring 15-ball 18 while trying to make a shot out of nothing in the seventh over.
Riyan carried his bat through the middle to help a struggling Royals put up a respectable total. He fell short of a well-deserved half-century, which could have been his first 50 in front of the home crowd. However, the youngster’s shining season got brighter as his season total swelled to 531 from 13 games, by far the best in his six years in the cash-rich league.
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