Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck form with an attacking 67 to lead the Rajasthan Royals to a crushing 50-run win over the Punjab Kings in the IPL on Saturday.
The left-handed Jaiswal led the batting charge in his 45-ball knock and a 89-run opening stand with skipper Sanju Samson to steer Rajasthan to 205-4 in Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Samson’s 38 in his return to captaincy this season and an unbeaten 43 off 25 balls by Riyan Parag made Rajasthan breach the 200-run mark for the first time at the venue in six matches.
Inaugural champions Rajasthan then restricted the opposition to 155-9 despite Nehal Wadhera’s 41-ball 62 and hand Punjab their first loss of the season in three matches.
Rajasthan’s England import Jofra Archer took two wickets in the first over of the chase and returned figures of 3-25.
Jaiswal started cautiously after scores of one, 29 and four in his first three outings, but soon found his groove as he took on the bowlers alongside Samson, who played the previous matches only as a batsman when Parag stood in as captain.
The Indian opener smashed three fours and five sixes in a calculated knock.
Samson fell to a catch at mid-on off Lockie Ferguson with the New Zealand fast bowler also sending Jaiswal’s off stump cartwheeling.
Previous match hero Nitish Rana made 12 before Marco Jansen had him caught on the fence but Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, who hit 20, boosted the total.
The left-handed Hetmyer departed in the 19th over before Parag and Dhruv Jurel, who hit a six and four, managed 19 runs from the last six balls.
In the chase, pace spearhead Archer bowled Priyansh Arya with the first ball of the innings and then bowled Shreyas Iyer as well for 10 on the sixth delivery of the first over, although this owed more to the captain’s ugly slog than the bowler’s guile.
With Marcus Stoinis falling caught and bowled off Sandeep Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh dismissed by Kumar Kartikeya, for 17, Rajasthan slipped to 43-4.
The left-handed Wadhera and Glenn Maxwell, who hit 30, attempted to mount a comeback in a threatening partnership of 88 before Maheesh Theekshana broke through.
Theekshana had Maxwell caught in the deep and fellow Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga sent back Wadhera on the first ball of the next over to derail the chase.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images
