Back with a bang
Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar bowled a match-turning spell after Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh made bruising fifties as Punjab Kings earned an IPL playoff berth after a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.
Brar, who came in as a substitute for skipper Shreyas Iyer — who suffered a finger injury — was introduced in the fifth over and the left-arm spinner walked away with an impressive 3/22 in four overs, helping PBKS to restrict RR to 209/7 in the chase of 220.
The Punjab side had earlier made 219/5 riding on Wadhera’s 70 off 37 balls and Shashank’s unbeaten 59 off 30 deliveries. Wadhera hit 5 fours and 5 sixes, while Shashank smashed 5 fours and 3 sixes.
The Ricky Ponting-coached side secured a playoff berth for the first time since 2014 after GT beat DC. GT’s win also ensured that RCB qualified for the knockouts.
Brar mixed up his angles, trajectory and pace with precision, playing a big part in the win. His scalps included the 14-year-old sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40 off 15) and Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 off 24), who had launched a brutal assault up front.
Together they flew off the blocks with a stand of 76 runs in just 4.1 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai (2/44) then landed a double blow, sending back skipper Sanju Samson (20 off 16) and Shimron Hetmyer (11 off 12) as RR’s chase lost steam.
Dhruv Jurel (53 off 31 balls) hit form to score his second fifty of the season but it went in vain as Marco Jansen (2/41) removed him and Wanindu Hasaranga off successive balls in the last over to end their chase.
Jaiswal was in explosive form from the outset, smashing four fours and a six off Arshdeep Singh’s first over. Suryavanshi matched him stroke for stroke, cracking two sixes and a four off Jansen. RR raced to 51/0 in just three overs — 50 of those runs coming in boundaries and one via a wide.
Suryavanshi continued his fireworks with back-to-back sixes off Arshdeep, helping RR storm to 76 in just 29 balls.
However, Brar’s introduction proved decisive, as he first removed Suryavanshi and then dismissed Jaiswal, who fell immediately after completing his sixth fifty of the season. It saw the required rate jumping to 12 from under 10, and the Royals couldn’t recover.
Earlier, fiery half-centuries from Wadhera and Shashank powered PBKS to a commanding total. Opting to bat, PBKS started briskly but lost opener Priyansh Arya in the second over, caught by Hetmyer off Tushar Deshpande (2/37). Prabhsimran Singh briefly kept the momentum going, striking Kwena Maphaka for a four and a six, but wickets continued to tumble.
IPL debutant Mitchell Owen fell for a two-ball duck, holing out to Samson off Maphaka. Prabhsimran (22 off 12) followed soon after, edging Deshpande to Samson.
