Rajasthan Royals struggled against the Punjab Kings bowlers who bowled smartly on a sticky pitch but did enough to secure a hard-fought three-wicket win in their IPL 2024 match at Milanpur on Saturday. Got steam. The target was an easy-looking 148 but a set of Punjab bowlers and a difficult surface made it difficult for the Royals before they managed to score 152 for seven. Rajasthan needed 49 runs from the last five overs, but they had Rowman Powell (11, 5b) and Shimron Hetmyer (27 not out, 10b, 1×4, 3×6) in their ranks.

The parity reached 10 off the last six balls when Hetmyer hit Harshal Patel for a six and a four, which the West Indian left-hander realized with two sixes off pacer Arsdeep Singh in the final over.

Royals started their chase comfortably without any real scoreboard pressure through Yashvi Jaiswal and Tanush Kotian.

However, Kotian, who was batting in this order for the first time in T20s, did not find his flow but still helped Jaiswal to score 56 runs in 8.2 overs.

But his attempt to drive Liam Livingstone out of the ground ended up missing his own leg stump.

Jaiswal, who played a brilliant flick against Kagiso Rabada, was looking to end his streak of low scores in this IPL.

But an unnecessary uppercut from Rabada was caught by Harshal Patel near third man as Rajasthan looked to be sinking a bit.

Their woes deepened when skipper Sanju Samson, who had earlier smashed Mankles with a six and four fours off Livingstone, was trapped leg by Rabada in his final over.

Samson couldn’t connect with a low, incoming delivery from Rabada, and the ball pinged off his back foot and even DRS couldn’t save him.

Earlier, Rajasthan bowlers took advantage of a sticky pitch led by Avesh (2/34) and Maharaj (2/23) to restrict Punjab Kings to an unbeaten total.

Ashutosh Sharma (31, 16b), Jitesh Sharma (29, 24b) and Livingstone (21, 14b) tried to push the pace but Punjab needed more than these cute little cameos.

But the Kings made a flying start to their innings with 26 runs in the first three overs when Atharva Thaide, who came in for injured skipper Shikhar Dhawan, hit two fours off fast bowler Kuldeep Sen.

But the brakes were soon on as Taide’s ill-timed Avesh ended up in Sen’s hands inside the circle.

The Punjab batsmen then struggled to gain any momentum on a pitch that held little grip, particularly for left-arm spinner Maharaj and leg-spinner Yuzvinder Chahal.

However, a piece of credit should also go to veteran pacer Trent Boult who conceded just 15 runs in his three powerplay overs.

Kings managed just 10 runs in the last three powerplay overs as they finished at a paltry 38 for one.

In the next five overs, the hosts also struggled to score a boundary as they scored 53 for 4 in 10 overs, losing Jonny Bairstow, stand-in captain Sam Curran and Prabhasmaran Singh, all to a sluggish deck. Eaten with a combination of Correct spinners

Their biggest hope could have been the range-hitting ability of in-form Shahshank Singh, but Sen couldn’t get past Joral with a weak pull-out at mid-wicket.

With the cream of the top order failing to play any significant role, PBKS needed some heavy hands from Livingstone and Jitesh to secure an even score.

Sharma also showed some intent, stopping Chahal in extra overs for a brilliantly timed six, and later sent Sen straight to the fence for a six before dismissing Avesh.

Livingstone, who hit Sen for a six and a four off consecutive balls through midwicket, and Ashutosh, who hit two sixes off Avish in the 19th over, helped PBKS post 61 runs in the last five overs, but they This attempt fell short. late

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