IPL 2023, PBKS vs RR emotional rollercoaster: Trent Boult strikes early, Liam Livingstone’s swing & Royals depend on Titans

Trent strikes early… again
In Rajasthan Royals’ two debilitating recent defeats that likely knocked them out of playoff contention, against Hyderabad and Bangalore, the absence of Trent Boult was sorely felt. His ability to swing the new ball, despite not getting much help from the surface, has allowed him to take eight wickets in the first over in the IPL, and it was Punjab’s in-form opener Prabhsimran Singh’s turn to fall prey to that ability this time around.
The Kiwi loaded a full-length inswinger that held its shape until the last moment, outfoxing Prabhsimran in the crease who had committed to an aggressive stance with hard hands. He retracted his shot at the last minute but it was not enough, knocking the ball back into Boult’s hands. Atharva Taide nearly lost his wicket in exactly similar fashion, this time the ball was hit harder and Boult was forced to dive to his right and couldn’t get a hold of it.
The use of a left-arm fast bowler that can make use of the new ball has been a trend seen across the board in the IPL, and Boult’s iteration is the archetype.

WHAT. A. CATCH 🤯
Trent Boult grabs a screamer off his own bowling ⚡️⚡️
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2023
– Namit Kumar
Swing and a miss
It was a tense moment for the Punjab Kings in the middle of the eighth over as they lost their fourth wicket for just 50 runs. But moments after seeing his stumps knocked over, as Navdeep Saini flailed in celebration in front of him, Liam Livingstone could not help himself and let out a laugh.
His dismissal was comedic in a way, although Shikhar Dhawan may not see it that way. After struggling for clean connection throughout his 13-ball stint at the crease, he unleashed a wild swing of the bat – his head position and bat face as out-of-sync as physically possible – going across the line and completely missing the ball which bundled over his off and middle stump. A swing that would not be out of place in baseball or golf which somehow feels commonplace in the IPL.

Cleaned up! 🎯@navdeepsaini96 gets the dangerous Livingstone and #PBKS are now 4️⃣ down in the first innings!
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/3cqivbD81R #TATAIPL | #PBKSvRR pic.twitter.com/Bm8iKD1fci
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2023
– Namit Kumar
Hoping for a favour
After Yashaswi Jaiswal and Devdutt Paddikal put up a solid partnership to set the base for a win for Rajasthan, it was down to Shimron Hetmeyer and Riyan Parag to go one better and attempt to win the game with 9 balls to spare to sufficiently improve their run rate to make sure, in the case that both Bangalore and Mumbai lose their final game, but it was not to be.

The 18th over Rabada started with two maximums but it ends with Riyan Parag’s wicket!#RR need 13 off 9 now
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2023
Parag hit back-to-back sixes off Rabada, who kept banging it in short and had pressure piled on him with a huge over-stepping no ball. Hetmeyer continued his onslaught, leaving in the penultimate over after smashing four fours and three sixes, all in the final four overs. The chase was round out the tail in the end, but Rajasthan are still dependent on Gujarat Titans, who need to beat RCB six runs or more, to qualify.
– Namit Kumar