“The game keeps you humble all the time”, said Punjab’s captain Rahul post match as the game once in their firm grip slipped away towards the end.  He was right, Rahul Tewatia innings tonight has humbled quite a few cricket pundits all over the world. There was a time when he could not connect the ball properly and played too many dot balls that mounted pressure on Samson at the other end. Sent at no. 4, he was supposed to play a cameo and get that required rate down. But his slogs were not connecting and the 23-ball 17 while chasing mammoth score of 224 meant game was slipping away from RR. At the fall of Samson’s wicket, 63 off 23 seemed impossible but there was a turn of tide in the next over. In space of 11 balls, Rajasthan hit 8 sixes with Tewatia, who could not middle the previous 23 balls(except one six), hitting six of those. Five of them came in the 18^th over of Cottrell. Royals needed just 2 in the last over which they got off a four by Curran over extra cover with three balls to spare.

Brilliant start for KXIP

Steve Smith decided to bowl first after winning the toss. His side was boosted by the presence of Buttler, who came in place of Miller. The in-form opening duo of Mayank and Rahul yet again provided a solid start for Punjab with a spectacle of shots all round the ground. It doesn’t always happen that KL Rahul gets eclipsed by another batsman but today Mayank came set from the dressing room. He played his shots from the word go and in 26 balls he had reached his fifty with 5 6s and four 4s. Rahul too joined the party soon as he welcomed Archer to attack with three consecutive boundaries. In the powerplay they scored 60, which was the highest in this year’s IPL but only for a brief period as RR bettered it in the second half.

Even the introduction of spin could not bring down the scoring rate. Mayank played an array of good shots be it pull over mid wicket or drive straight down or cuts behind point. He bought his hundred off just 45 balls, the second fastest by an Indian in the IPL after Yusuf Pathan’s 37-ball ton. It featured seven massive hits and 9 fours. The 183 run opening partnership was broken by Tom Curran in the 17^th over when Mayank could not time a low full toss which ended up in Samson’s hand at midwicket. Rahul soon accompanied him back as he sliced Rajpoot to deep point’s throat. His 54-ball 69 had 7 fours and a solitary six in it. A 25-run cameo by Pooran helped Kings post a massive total of 223/2 in 20 overs.

Pursuit of record chase

Smith Smith made his intentions quite clear from the first over itself with two fours off Cottrell. They had a mild hiccup at the fall of Buttler’s wicket, caught at mid wicket by Sarfaraz off Cottrell. But the new man Sanju Samson picked up from where he left in the last innings and started with a six over long on the first delivery he faced. Samson and Smith found gaps at regular interval and took the aerial route quite often. They scored 69 runs in the powerplay. The ease of field restriction could not stem the run flow from either bat. Smith reached his fifty off 26 deliveries with seven fours and two sixes but perished at the same score, being caught at deep cover as he sliced Neesham’s ball. Rahul Tewatia was promoted to hit some big ones off the leg spinners but he found it tough to time the ball or make his slogs work. Samson at the other end continued his onslaught and brought his back to back half century with 4 4s and 3 6s. With lack of support from the other end, Sanju took it upon himself to do the bulk of scoring with the asking rate at 15 an over. In the 16th over bowled by Maxwell, he scored 21 runs with three sixes. However he got out the next over trying to guide the short ball of Shami over keeper but the ball hit his glove for an easy catch for Rahul behind the stumps. His elegant innings of 85 off 42 had seven sixes and four 4s and was adorned by beautiful straight bat lofts, especially over cover, and effortless pulls.

The final twist

With 51 needed off last three overs, Tewatia hit five sixes off Cottrell’s over-most of them hoicked on on-side. Archer sent the first two balls he faced off Shami for sixes and the equation was back in the favour of Royals. Before getting out off the last ball of penultimate over, Tewatia hit one more six off Shami- cut over deep point. Royals now needed only two runs in the last over of Ashwin. With a wicket off second ball- Parag being bowled- it seemed match might have another twist but Curran with a first ball four cleared all doubts.

Sanju Smason for his brilliant innings received the Man of the Match award. Another talking point of the game was a brilliant save at mid wicket boundary by Nicholas Pooran. He dived full length at the boundary line outwards and caught the ball fully stretched out in the air, but made sure to throw the ball back in before landing outside the rope.