By Neil Manthorp.
Punjab Kings captain, Shikhar Dhawan, anchored his side to a competitive total of 197-4 and Australian Nathan Ellis claimed 4-30 to ensure victory by five-runs against the Rajasthan Royals after being asked to bat first in their IPL match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday evening.
An unexpectedly close finish saw the Royals requiring 16 from the final over but Sam Curran held his nerve to close the deal with 0-44 from his four overs bowled at the extreme ends of the innings.
Opener Dhawan batted at a pedestrian run-a-ball for the first 15 overs and threatened to be the sort of anchor which drags a ship down rather than keep it stable but accelerated superbly in the final quarter to finish with an unbeaten 86 from 56 balls with nine fours and three sixes.
Fellow opener, Prabhsimran Singh, smashed a thrilling 60 from only 34 balls with seven fours and three sixes to completely dominate an opening stand of 90 in only 9.4 overs before Jos Buttler took an outstanding catch at long on off the bowling of Jason Holder.
The run-chase began with the Royals experiment of using Ravichandran Ashwin as a ‘pinch-hitting’ opener failed when he top-edged his fourth ball to mid on and, with the early demise of Yashasvi Jaiswal (11) the run-chase stumbled to 26-2.
Jos Buttler spanked a four and a six in his 19 from 11 balls before an inside edge onto his pad was caught by bowler Ellis but captain Sanju Samson kept his team firmly in the contest with 42 from 25 balls before holing out to long off against Ellis who then had Riyan Parag (20) caught at long on with the total on 121-5. There was no way back for the Royals.
Dhawan’s anchor role was well supported by Jitesh Sharma (26 from 16 balls) before holing out in the deep off legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Holder bowled a superb final over to dismiss Shahrukh Khan for a frustrating 11 from 10 balls courtesy of another brilliant catch from Buttler.
Ravichandran Ashwin was also in sublime form with the ball bowling Sikandar Raza (1) to finish with 1-25 in his four overs while Holder claimed 2-29.
The Royals appeared to be out of the contest at 124-6 but Shimron Hetmeyer smashed 36 from 18 balls and added 62 from just 27 balls with Dhruj Jurel (32* from 15 balls) to reignite the Royals chances before Curran, the most expensive player in IPL history, closed the deal.
PUNJAB KINGS: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (captain & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, KM Asif, Yuzvendra Chahal.