Tag: Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals

  • Losing IPL games narrowly has become a pattern for Punjab Kings: Anil Kumble

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble admitted that his team losing IPL games narrowly has become a pattern and the two-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals was certainly a difficult pill to swallow.

    The Punjab side failed to score four runs from the final over with the Royals fast bowler Karthik Tyagi dismissing Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda and giving away only one run to snatch the win for his team on Monday.

    “It’s sort of become a bit of a pattern for us, especially as soon as we get to Dubai, it seems. There was a clear message saying we need to finish this game in 19 overs, and that was the approach,” Kumble said at the post-match press conference.

    “Unfortunately, we let it till the end, and in the last couple of balls it becomes a lottery (with) a new batsman going in, it is a bit of lottery.”

    The legendary leg-spinner gave credit to Tyagi for the way he bowled the final over.

    “But credit to how Tyagi bowled the last over, it was pretty obvious that he’s going to bowl wide outside the off stump, but somehow our batters didn’t take the right options. “Yes, it’s become a pattern, that’s something that we need to discuss and sort out. We have five more games, but again, we don’t want to get bogged down by this defeat. It’s certainly a difficult pill to swallow,” elaborated Kumble.

    While Kumble praised the bowling effort of his team, he lamented that the batsmen could not finish the game.

    “It was a very good wicket, in fact we really came back in the last four overs, I think we gave just about 20 runs and picked up six wickets. Arshdeep (Singh) bowled brilliantly, (Mohammed) Shami bowled brilliantly, (Harpreet) Brar bowled really well on a tough pitch. “And remember one side of the ground, the boundaries were short, the other was longer.”

    At one stage, Rajasthan were looking to score almost 200-210, so to really squeeze the last four overs and pick up six wickets, I thought the bowling effort was really good,” said the head coach, who has 619 Test wickets to his name.

    “I think the batting showed till the 17th over that we were cruising, unfortunately, 18th, 19th (over) sort of pulled us back after that six (Aiden) Markram hit. After that, we just got singles and then lost wickets and took it to the last over, which unfortunately we couldn’t finish,” he added.

    According to Kumble, the team management had given a clear message to finish the game in 19 overs, but unfortunately, it did not turn out that way.

    “As batsmen, they certainly know what their scoring shots are, it’s not about just the scoop. It also boils down to that particular batsman. When you have 8 runs in 12 balls, I don’t think we needed a scoop, all it needed was a bit of hitting, and even if someone got out, the next batsman would at least get five or six balls to get those runs. When it goes to the last couple of balls, it becomes really hard,” Kumble said.

  • Arshdeep Singh​ takes five wickets as Punjab Kings restrict Rajasthan Royals to 185 in IPL

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (49) and Mahipal Lomror (43) starred with the bat but Punjab Kings pulled things back in the rear end to bowl out Rajasthan Royals for 185 in their IPL match here on Tuesday.

    Arshdeep Singh returned with a five-wicket haul after Mohammed Shami claimed three as the duo restricted Rajasthan inside the 200-mark after they were going hammer and tongs at one stage.

    Put into bat, Jaiswal was part of in two vital partnerships, adding 54 with his new opening partner Evin Lewis (36) and then sharing another 48 off 28 balls with Liam Livingstone (25).

    Lomror then smashed his way to a 17-ball 43, studded with four sixes and two fours.

    However, Punjab pulled things back in the end with Shami claiming two wickets to restrict RR inside 200.

    Earlier, Jaiswal smashed two successive fours in the first over off Shami, while debutant Lewis sent Ishan Porel, also playing his first match, sailing over for a six as RR had a flying start.

    The West Indies batsman punished Porel for bowling short and wide, blasting four boundaries in the fourth over.

    Deepak Hooda was then taken to the cleaners as he bled 13 runs.

    Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh then produced the breakthrough, deceiving Lewis with a slower ball as Mayank Agarwal took a fine low catch.

    After the powerplay, RR were at 57 for one.

    Jaiswal then reverse swept England spinner Adil Rashid for a six, before depositing him over long off for another maximum.

    RR skipper Sanju Samson failed to make any impact as a terrific one-handed catch by KL Rahul ended his stay and gave Porel his maiden wicket.

    Livingstone then joined Jaiswal, who picked up another maximum off Rashid in the 9th over.

    Jasiwal raised the team hundred with another four off Harpreet Brar in the 11th over.

    Livingstone also tried to match his partner as he scooped one fine over KL Rahul and then smacked one over mid-wicket off Arshdeep.

    A sensational catch at deep midwicket by Fabian Allen sent Livingstone back to the hut with RR slipping to 116 for 3.

    Jaiswal couldn’t complete his fifty as his leading edge was held on to by Mayank at short cover.

    New man Lomror then went on a six-hitting spree, blasting two maximums off Rashid before sending Hooda for a couple more in the 16th over as RR crossed the 150-mark.

    Lomror also smashed two fours as Hooda conceded 24 runs off his second over.

    However, Shami and Arshdeep restricted their opponent to a competitive score in the end.

  • Rajasthan Royals win toss, opt to field against Punjab Kings

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson on Monday won the toss and opted to field first against Punjab Kings in game four of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Wankhede Stadium.

    At the time of the toss, RR skipper Samson said: “We are going to bowl first. We had challenges while picking the XI. Morris, Stokes, Buttler, and Fizz are our overseas players. Very excited about the role.”

    On the other hand, Rahul said: “We all know the history of Wankhede. Everyone wants to bowl first. But we would want to play good cricket. It is about the batting group helping the bowling group and vice-versa. We were really happy with the auctions. Meredith, Richardson, Gayle, and Pooran are our foreign players.”

    For Punjab Kings, there are three debutants as Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson, and Shahrukh Khan have been named in the final playing XI. Universe Boss Chris Gayle handed out a cap to Shahrukh Khan.

    Ahead of the first game against Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara had spoken about how the side would give a long rope to its players so that they can succeed and not take too much pressure.

    Rajasthan Royals last year opted for quite a few opening pairs with Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes all opening at some stage in IPL 2020. Sangakkara did not reveal who will open the batting this time around, but he did confirm that a long rope would be provided to the players.

    Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Shivam Dube, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

    Punjab Kings Playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Arshdeep Singh