Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], May 18 (ANI): Rajasthan Royals (RR) continued their disappointing run in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), with yet another narrow defeat while batting second against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Jaipur on Sunday.
RR’s poor run while chasing a target continues this season. This season has often witnessed the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson/Vaibhav Suryavanshi setting things up nicely for RR, only for the middle-order to succumb to the nerves and scoreboard pressure and leave their team just a few runs short of the chase.
This season, RR has batted second in nine matches, only winning once. They have lost on eight occasions. They have tied with now-defunct Pune Warriors India (PWI) for most losses batting second in a season. PWI also lost eight matches in 2012 and 2013 while batting second.
While batting second, RR has suffered some really narrow losses. This run of disappointing last-over losses started with the match against DC, where, needing nine runs in the final over, they lost the match in the Super Over after the game ended in a tie. After that, they have suffered heartbreaking losses to Lucknow Super Giants (by two runs), against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (by 11 runs), to Kolkata Knight Riders (by one run) and now Punjab Kings (by 11 runs).
Dhruv Jurel (302 in 12 innings with two fifties and a strike rate of 150.24), Shimron Hetmyer (227 runs in 12 innings with a fifty and a strike rate of 142.76), Riyan Parag (390 runs in 13 innings with a fifty and a strike rate of 168.24), and Shubham Dubey (106 runs in eight innings with a strike rate of 160.60) have failed to finish matches on a positive note for RR.
With RR sitting at the ninth spot with three wins and 10 losses, one cannot help but wonder how their campaign could have been had they won all these matches.
Opting to bat first, PBKS was 34/3. Following that, a 67-run stand between skipper Shreyas Iyer (30 in 25 balls, five fours) and Nehal Wadhera (70 in 37 balls, with five fours and five sixes) and a 58-run partnership between Wadhera and Shashank Singh (59* in 30 balls, with five fours and three sixes) solidified PBKS’s hold on the game. Then an explosive partnership between Shashank and Azmatullah Omarzai (21* in three balls, with three fours and a six) took PBKS to 219/5 in their 20 overs.
Tushar Deshpande (2/37) was the leading wicket-taker for RR.
In the run-chase, young openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 in 25 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40 in 15 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) provided RR with the start they needed, getting 76 runs in just 4.5 overs. RR kept up with the run-rate despite losing wickets later, with Dhruv Jurel (53 in 31 balls, with six fours and four sixes) playing another fine knock. However, other batters failed to respond to the scoreboard pressure, falling 11 runs short, with RR finishing at 209/7.
Harpreet Brar (3/22) was the top bowler for PBKS. Marco Jansen (2/41) and Omarzai (2/44) also were solid with the ball.
PBKS is at the second spot with eight wins and three losses, giving them 17 points, with one point from a no result. (ANI)
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