Ellis in wonderland: Bowler stars with four wickets after Shikhar Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh fire for Punjab

Guwahati, April 5

Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh smashed classy half-centuries before Nathan Ellis’ exploits with the ball guided Punjab Kings to a nervy five-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match here today.

Young Prabhsimran (60) and veteran skipper Dhawan (86 not out) pummelled the Rajasthan Royals’ attack as Punjab posted a challenging 197/4 after being asked to bat.

Rajasthan were then blown away by Ellis (4/30) before Shimron Hetmyer (35) and young Impact Player Dhruv Jurel (32 not out) stitched a 62-run partnership to get Rajasthan back in the game.

But the IPL’s costliest overseas recruit — Sam Curran — justified his top billing by brilliantly defending 15 in the last over to restrict Rajasthan to 192/7.

Pacer Arshdeep Singh provided the early breakthrough as he accounted for both openers. Rajasthan sent Ravichandran Ashwin to open in place of Jos Buttler, who had walked off the field grimacing after taking Shahrukh Khan’s catch earlier. Yashasvi Jaiswal was first to go as he sent the ball straight to the fielder. He was followed by Ashwin, who perished for a duck. Coming at No. 3, Buttler hit an 11-ball 19. He was dropped in the third over but do couldn’t much as he became Ellis’ first victim of the night.

Skipper Sanju Samson (42 off 25) looked in good touch as he timed the ball well. He smacked Harpreet Brar for back to back boundaries before greeting Ellis with two fours. Rajasthan were 89/3 at the halfway mark but Punjab’s bowlers managed to dry out the boundaries. With the required run-rate increasing, Samson succumbed under the pressure. Ellis then sent back local favourite Riyan Parag (20 off 12) and claimed Devdutt Padikkal’s wicket (21) before Hetmyer and Jurel brought the equation down to 15 off the last over.

Brief Scores: PBKS: 197/4 (Dhawan 86*, Prabhsimran 60; Holder 2/29); RR: 192/7 (Samson 42, Jurel 32*; Ellis 4/30). — PTI

KKR opt for Roy

Kolkata: England opener Jason Roy was today roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders KKR to give the side a boost in the absence of regular captain Shreyas Iyer and the pull-out of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. The franchise did not elaborate whether Roy will be available for the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. “Kolkata Knight Riders have signed England’s Jason Roy for Rs 2.8 crore for the TATA IPL 2023 from his base price of Rs 1.5 crore,” it stated. Roy is likely to replace Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who opened in their match against Punjab Kings and scored 22 from 16 balls. The purple brigade already have N Jagadeesan to don the gloves

Prabhsimran gets first IPL fifty

Guwahati: Young opener Prabhsimran Singh scored his first half-century in the IPL with an attacking 60 against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati today. The wicketkeeper-batter from Patiala smashed three sixes and seven fours in his 34-ball innings and shared a 90-run opening partnership with captain Shikhar Dhawan (86 off 56) to take Kings to 197/4. The 22-year-old came into the season having played just six games across four seasons, with a highest score of 19, since making his debut in 2019. He started the season with a 12-ball 23 against Kolkata Knight Riders before grabbing his 10th T20 half-century.

There were some nervous moments but I was keeping my calm and the same with the bowlers. There was a lot of dew. The bowlers did a great job. I was happy with the score we put up. They bowled well and bowled very good yorkers. We’ve gotten a great start playing well and I’m doing my best to increase my strike rate. — Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab Kings’ captain