IPL 2023: Rajasthan Royals knock Punjab Kings out to stay alive

Having covered the length and breadth of India over the last 50-odd days as summer set in, Dharamshala must have been a respite for Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Having assembled at the start of the campaign full of hope – like it has been the case every season – they have seen it veer off the track. A déjà vu moment once again for two sides that are supremely talented, but seem to lack the cutting edge to get beyond the group stages.
Punjab, who were in a position to qualify when they arrived in Dharamshala, had had their fate sealed on Wednesday itself. So this was of no academic interest to them. On the other hand, Rajasthan seemed to have broken the jinx last season, making it to the final, and at the halfway stage looked every bit a contender for the title this year.
But, here they are, their fate sealed and locked. Their destiny is not in their own hands as they still remain in the fifth spot and for Rajasthan to qualify, both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians have to lose their last league matches on Sunday. For the record, even if Bangalore lose (not a big margin), they can still make it to the playoffs ahead of Rajasthan as they have a better net run rate.
Cat and mouse game
Chasing 188, a total that seemed par, Rajasthan once again lost Jos Buttler early for nought – the third successive and fifth of the season, which is the most for any batter. From there on the 73-run partnership between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal kept Rajasthan firmly in the chase as the two left-handers cut the risks out and batted sensibly. Although Jaiswal was not at his free-flowing best, he still scored at a brisk pace as Padikkal made it look easy against a Punjab attack that seemed resigned to its fate. But as Padikkal and Sanju Samson fell in successive overs, Punjab were back in the game and when Jaiswal too departed in the 15th over, Rajasthan were in more than a spot of bother.
However, Shimron Hetmyer, once again aced his role as a finisher as he found boundaries and sixes to keep the required run-rate under check. Although leg-spinner Rahul Chahar was mixing up his deliveries and keeping batsmen guessing, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran were guilty of being predictable in the death overs as Hetmyer and Riyan Parag found game-changing boundaries and sixes.
Although both didn’t hang around till the chase was done, Dhruv Jorel – coming in as Impact Player – once again played a cameo to take his team home as Rajasthan managed to live for another day.
As they showed during their chase, time and again Rajasthan appeared to throw away all their good work — something that has become a recurring theme this season — one which has ultimately put them again in a spot where they could miss out on play-offs.
Kings recover
While there is no denying the fact that Punjab have missed Jonny Bairstow at the top and missed the services of Liam Livingstone in the earlier part, they still had enough talent in the batting group to fetch them at least 8 wins that would have carried them into playoffs. But, they have seldom looked at putting their pieces together.
With no hopes of qualification, Punjab looked totally drained out, losing four wickets inside seven overs for just 50 on board. From there on, it was once again down to their lower middle order to not just rescue them but take them to a good enough total. It has been Punjab’s case all through the season where they haven’t been able to click as a batting unit and it continued on Friday as well.
While their batting performance has been exceptional in patches, for the majority of it, it has been ordinary and nothing illustrated it more than the dismissal of Livingstone, who swung his bat without even being in a position to execute the shot. In a season where most established names in their ranks have failed to be consent, Jitesh Sharma has stood out and has been one of the finds of the edition. While India are definitely not short on wicket-keeping options, what sets Sharma apart from the rest has been his ability to hit big shots as a finisher, a role that very few do and India badly lacks in their T20 set-up. Against Rajasthan, Sharma with 28-ball 44 (3×4, 3×6) once again took Punjab out of a hole in the company of Sam Curran as Rajasthan, sans R Ashwin, failed to make inroads in the middle overs. The 64-run partnership, not only brought Punjab back into the game, but it also set a base for Shahrukh Khan to provide finishing touches. The tall, well-built right-hander started tentatively as ever against spinners and struggled when pace was taken off the ball, but once he got going, he was hard to stop as he finished with a typical 23-ball unbeaten 41 taking Punjab to 187/5. The last two overs alone cost Rajasthan 46 runs.