Jurel's 'Impact' in Vain as Sam Curran Helps Punjab Earn a Tense 5-run Win
Dhruv Jurel batting for RR (Source: BCCI/IPL)
A stunning assault from 'Impact Player' Dhruv Jurel (32* off 15) and Shimron Hetmyer (36 off 18) wasn't enough for the Rajasthan Royals to beat the Punjab Kings in Guwahati on Wednesday evening.
Chasing 198, Rajasthan Royals were forced to send a new opening partner with Yashasvi Jaiswal after Jos Buttler injured his finger while fielding.
The Royals choose R Ashwin to partner Yashasvi, who kickstarted the run-chase in style with a six off Sam Curran over deep square-leg.
Jaiswal came out with clear intent but one shot proved one too many for the stylish southpaw as he ended up cover-driving Arshdeep Singh straight to the short-cover fielder.
Ashwin's stay as opener also ended prematurely as Arshdeep bounced out the veteran on a 4-ball duck.
Jos Buttler got a reprieve when he was at 5 after a mistimed attempted pull off Curran was shelled by Harpreet Brar at square-leg.
Post the reprieve, he and RR skipper Sanju Samson played some lusty strokes but just as the partnership was starting to blossom, Butler was caught & bowled by Nathan Ellis, after he inside-edged an attempted hoick to midwicket to the bowler.
Samson (42 off 25 deliveries) continued with his stroke play but the entry of Devdutt Padikkal completely snuffed out whatever momentum the Royals had.
Padikkal took 18 deliveries to score his first 11 runs, and the pressure eventually got to Samson, who's attempted cover-drive off Ellis ended up straight in substitute Matthew Short's hands.
At 4-91 after 11 overs, RR and, especially Padikkal needed a move on, and while he still couldn't, Riyan Parag came out all guns blazing, smashing 2 sixes and a four in 12 deliveries.
Ellis, however, came back to dismiss both him and Padikkal (21 off 26) to end up with figures of 4/30.
But, as you would expect from a PBKS v RR match, it's not over until its over.
RR still had Shimron Hetmyer in the middle, and it is at this point that they invoked their impact player card in the form of Dhruv Jurel.
This proved to be masterclass as Jurel came out like a man possessed, dishing out some of the most evocative strokeplay one would ever see.
Hetmyer was at his typical best, muscling deliveries to monstrous sixes, but it was Jurel, whose batting had a magical rendition of classical and unorthodox strokeplay.
Not only did he cover-drive or scoop, he also played one of the most picturesque drive on the up, ending with a pose that would make any batsman proud.
Hetmyer and Jurel smoked 58 runs in 5 overs with the help of 3 fours and 5 sixes to reduce the equation to 16 off 6.
However, the damage had already been done earlier in the innings, and while the duo did really well, it proved to be a bridge too far to scale as Sam Curran held his nerves brilliantly to earn a 5-run win for his team.
Prabhsimran Singh's strokeplay headlined PBKS' innings
Earlier, the Punjab Kings got off to a blazing start thanks to a stunning display of disdainful stroke play from young Prabhsimran Singh.
The 20-year-old opener picked up from where he had left in the last game (vs KKR) as he took the Rajasthan Royals' bowling attack by the scruff off its neck to paint the entire ground with his magical shots.
The most eye-catching thing about Singh's 34-ball 60 was the way he took on the short ball from the Rajasthan pacers. Not only did he employ the pull and hook shot with perfection, he also WOWed the fans with an arrogant front–hand smash straight over the bowler's head.
Thanks to Prabhsimran's assault, PBKS were able to rack up 63 runs in the powerplay, even as skipper Shikhar Dhawan struggled for timing for almost its entirety.
Prabhsimran's magical display was eventually ended by Jason Holder, when his attempted slap to a short delivery was brilliantly caught by a diving Jos Buttler, who ran in from long-off.
Following his dismissal, the onus fell on Dhawan to up the tempo of his innings in order to continue with the momentum that his young opener had given.
Dhawan's first 36 runs came in 31 deliveries, and while he did get his next 50 in the next 25 with the help of some eye-catching shots, it wasn't nearly enough to match what Prabhsimran had earlier did.
Jitesh Sharma did smash a couple of lusty blows during his 16-ball 27 to inject a bit of momentum but that was soon sucked out by Chahal and Ashwin as the spin duo dismissed him and Sikandar Raza in quick succession. Ashwin [ 1/25 in 4 overs] was the pick of the bowlers for his team along with Jason Holder, who returned figures of 2/29 [4].
Shah Rukh Khan again flattered to deceive as he crawled his way to a 10-ball 11 before getting dismissed by Holder thanks to another good catch by Buttler.
As a result, Punjab could only manage 105 runs in the last 10 overs, even as Dhawan carried his bat.
Brief Scores:
Punjab Kings: 197-4 (20 Overs)
Shikhar Dhawan 86* (56), Prabhsimran Singh 60 (34);
Jason Holder 2/29 (4), Ravichandran Ashwin 1/25 (4)
Rajasthan Royals: 192-7 (20 Overs)
Sanju Samson 42 (25), Shimron Hetmyer 36 (18);
Nathan Ellis 4/30 (4), Arshdeep Singh 2/47 (4)
Punjab Kings won by 5 runs
.jpg "Buttler Demoted?")
 "Yash Mittal")
