• Punjab survive scare to win IPL thriller

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    Skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 86 and four wickets by Nathan Ellis helped the Punjab Kings to their second straight IPL victory with a tense five-run win over the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.

    Punjab rode on the left-handed Dhawan’s 56-ball knock and his 90-run opening stand with Prabhsimran Singh, who hit 60, to post 197-4 after being invited to bat first in Guwahati.

    Australia’s Ellis, an up-and-coming pace bowler, then shined in his second game of his IPL debut season to return figures of 4-30 and keep down Rajasthan to 192-7 but not after a scare.

    Shimron Hetmyer (36) and impact player Dhruv Jurel (32*) put on a dangerous stand of 61 off 26 balls to lift Rajasthan from a precarious 124-6 and raise hopes of a turnaround.

    But the asking rate proved too much and Hetmyer run out in the final over, which started with Rajasthan needing 16, sealed the deal for Punjab with Sam Curran keeping calm in the 20th over.

    Rajasthan lost two early wickets to Arshdeep Singh’s left-arm pace and Ellis soon took over when he sent back Jos Buttler with his caught and bowled.

    Ellis soon cut short Samson’s knock on 42 and took down Riyan Parag for 20 on successive balls between overs to be on a hat-trick saved by Hetmyer.

    Earlier Prabhsimran set the tone for Punjab’s domination as the 22-year-old talent hit his maiden IPL fifty and struck three sixes.

    Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa injured his hand after getting hit on his forearm at the non-striker’s end from the batsman’s shot and retired hurt on one.

    Dhawan took time to get into the groove and allowed his younger partner to take centre stage as Prabhsimran smashed the bowlers around in his 34-ball knock.

    He finally fell to a stunning outfield catch by Buttler, who covered good ground from long-off to take a diving catch as his elbows hit the ground. Jason Holder was the bowler.

    Dhawan stood firm and soon changed gears to take on the bowlers as he hit three boundaries in one over off Yuzvendra Chahal who was later substituted by Jurel under the new “impact player” rule.

    Buttler took another good outfield catch but injured his finger in the process and came to bat one down instead of his usual opening slot.

    © Agence France-Presse

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    Simon Borchardt