RR v PBKS: Rajasthan Royals fall five runs short as Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel pull off a near heist against Punjab Kings

`Rajasthan Royals (RR) fell short by five runs in an exciting chase against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Set a target of 198 by Punjab, the Royals looked out of the game when they were struck at 124/6 after 15 overs. However, Caribbean superstar Shimron Hetmyer partnered former India U-19 skipper Dhruv Jurel to stitch a 62-run partnership in 4.3 overs and nearly take the Sanju Samson-led side over the finishing line against all odds.

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Australian pacer Nathan Ellis broke the back of the Rajasthan batting by scalping four dismissals whilst conceding merely 30 runs in his four over spell. Indian fast bowler Arshdeep Singh complemented him really well, notching two dismissals, but ended up conceding 47 runs in his quota of four overs.

Samson played a brief blinder as he hit 42 runs in 25 deliveries with five boundaries and a solitary six to inject life in the Royals’ chase. However, it was the duo of Hetmyer and Jurel who grabbed all the eyeballs with the relentless with which they took on the Punjab bowling towards the backend of the innings. Jurel bagged three boundaries and two sixes to get to 32 in merely 15 deliveries whereas Hetmyer hit three sixes en route his 36 off 18 deliveries before being run out in the final over.

RR shook up their batting unit by promoting Ravichandran Ashwin to open the batting. However, the off-spinner was dismissed for a duck and the responsibility of taking the team home fell on the lower middle-order with Jos Buttler falling cheaply for 19 runs as well.

Earlier, Punjab scored 197 runs courtesy a fine unbeaten knock of 86 runs in 56 deliveries by their captain Shikhar Dhawan. However, it was young opener Prabhsimran Singh’s impressive 60 off 34 that caught the crowd’s attention. The 22-year-old dominated the Rajasthan bowling right from the offset, bagging seven boundaries and hitting three effortless sixes in the process.

He looked all set to play a big knock on the night but ended up mistiming a shot off which Buttler took a great catch near the boundary line. Dhawan was stuck at 30 off 30 deliveries at one point, but he scored 56 in his following 26 deliveries to up the ante and quite literally rally the entire batting line-up around him.

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was taken to the cleaners by the Punjab batsman as he conceded 50 in his four overs before being substituted for Jurel in the second innings.

“There were some nervous moments, I was trying to keep my calm and discussing plans with my bowlers. Was happy with the score we put up. We scoring 197 and my bowlers giving those early wickets and then Nathan came in and bowled supebly. It was a full team effort,” PBKS captain Dhawan said in the post-match press conference. Ellis was adjudged as the player of the match for his four-wicket haul.

The Royals will next face the Delhi Capitals in Guwahati itself on April 8 whereas the Punjab Kings will head to Hyderabad to Sunrsisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 9.