Hetmyer seals IPL thriller for Rajasthan Royals over Punjab Kings

Shimron Hetmyer provided the finishing touches to Rajasthan Royals' last-over win against Punjab Kings in an Indian Premier League thriller on Saturday.

Punjab needed 10 runs from the last over, and Hetmyer (27 not out off 10 balls) held his nerve against death-bowling specialist Arshdeep Singh. After two dot deliveries, Hetmyer hit 6-2-6 to help Rajasthan cross the finish line with a ball left.

Rajasthan finished with 152-7 in reply to Punjab’s 147-8.

The Royals cemented top spot in the league with a third straight win, while the slumping Kings were handed a fourth loss in six games.

Put in to bat, Punjab missed Shikhar Dhawan and English allrounder Sam Curran stepped in as skipper.

The hosts were pegged back regularly by losing wickets.

Rajasthan’s spinners squeezed the scoring rate. Yuzvendra Chahal took 1-31 in four overs and Keshav Maharaj picked 2-23. Maharaj dismissed Jonny Bairstow (15) and Curran (6) and helped to reduce Punjab to 52-4 in 9.3 overs.

Jitesh Sharma anchored Punjab with 29 off 24 balls, including two sixes, but it was impact player Ashutosh Sharma who gave Punjab 147 to defend by scoring 31 off 16 until he was dismissed by Trent Boult (1-22) off the final ball.

Tanush Kotian replaced Rajasthan opener Jos Buttler and combined for 56 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Jaiswal, in a slump, scored 39 off 28 balls with four fours.

As opposed to Rajasthan’s spin, Punjab’s pace did the heavy lifting and got the vital breakthroughs. Kagiso Ramada dismissed Jaiswal, and in-form skipper Sanju Samson for 18.

Liam Livingstone bowled Kotian as Rajasthan’s chase was struggling at 89-3 in the 14th over.

At 115-5, Hetmyer and fellow West Indian batter Rovman Powell took charge. Powell 11-off-five cameo gave Rajasthan the impetus that Hetmyer used to finish with a flourish of three sixes.

Associated Press