Rajasthan Royals' woes continued as they were beaten by Punjab Kings by five wickets on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
This was Royals' fourth successive defeat. Even though they have qualified for the play-offs, Royals are struggling for answers as the losses continue to mount at a crucial stage in the tournament.
Their batting was a big disappointment against Punjab as they could manage only 144/9 which didn't really challenge Punjab despite a few early wickets.
Sam Curran, Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar bagged two wickets apiece, while Nathan Ellis bowled a miserly spell in a clinical showing by the Punjab bowling unit.
A look at the best bowling performances of the match:
Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel came into the attack in the sixth over and was welcomed with a boundary as Tom Kohler-Cadmore drilled his overpitched delivery straight down the ground for four. He redeemed himself quite well with five dots on the trot in the final over of the Powerplay.
After conceding 11 runs in his second over, Harshal made amends in his third over as he picked up his first wicket of the evening. Assigned to bowl in the death overs, the experienced Harshal did a brilliant job.
He struck with the third ball of the 18th over as RR's Impact Player Donovan Ferreira mistimed the lofted shot on the off-side and instead sliced it to Rilee Roussow, who picked up a stellar running catch running to his left at long off.
Harshal saved his best for the last. He bowled a superb last over, firstly getting rid of the well-set Riyan Parag, who hit 48 from 34 balls. Harshal, who revealed he has perfected the slower dipping full toss, deceived Parag for pace as he missed the full toss and was caught plumb in front.
Trent Boult and Avesh Khan swung their bats around but Harshal with his deception proved too good against the tailenders as he gave away just six runs in the final over.
Harshal finished with 2/28, taking his wicket tally to 22 in 13 games and overtake Jasprit Bumrah for the most wickets in IPL 2024.
The pacer is way ahead of everyone when it comes to bowling in the end overs, with 16 wickets between the 16th and 20th overs -- the most by any bowler this season so far with Bumrah a distant second on 11 wickets in the death overs.
Royals struggled with the bat against Nathan Ellis and Harshal's deceptive bowling at the end, as they lost four wickets for 43 runs in the last six overs.
Sam Curran
Captain Sam Curran gave Punjab Kings a good start with the ball as he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) in the first over.
The late inward movement worked in favour of Curran as Jaiswal got a thick inside edge which smashed into the stumps.
That wicket robbed Royals of the momentum in the Powerplay as Sanju Samson and debutant Tom Kohler-Cadmore struggled to get going on the slow pitch against Punjab's disciplined bowling with the new ball.
In his second over, Curran made the mistake of bowling short as Kohler-Cadmore pulled it over deep midwicket for the first six of the match. But that was the only damage of the over, as Curran bowled five dots thereafter.
Courtesy of Curran's early strike, Royals struggled to 38/1 in six overs of the Powerplay.
Curran struck another blow in his second spell. Coming back in the 14th over, the left-arm pacer sent back Dhruv Jurel for a first-ball duck after the right-hander pulled the short ball straight to Harpreet Brar at mid wicket.
Despite 2/24 in three overs, Curran didn't bring himself back to bowl the fourth over as he was content with the specialists to do the job at the end.
Nathan Ellis
Playing his first game of the season, Nathan Ellis made most of the opportunity.
Ellis began his spell with a tidy over, conceding just three runs in the fifth over before he bagged the big wicket of Rajasthan Royals Skipper Sanju Samson in his second over.
With Royals struggling to find the boundaries, Samson succumbed under pressure as he tried to cut the short ball from Ellis but ended up mistiming the slower bounce to be caught by Rahul Chahar at point in the seventh over.
From his first two overs, Ellis turned in sizzling figures of 1/6, including six dot balls.
The Australian pacer went for runs when he came back for a second spell as Riyan Parag hit a boundary to get 10 runs from the over. In his final over, the 19th of the innings, Ellis was unlucky as two boundaries came off the edge of Trent Boult's bat,
Bowling at an economy of just six -- the best by any bowler in the match -- Ellis finished with tidy figures of 1/24 from his four over spell.
Rahul Chahar
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar was brought into the attack in the eighth over and he had an instant impact.
After starting off with a length on middle delivery that was whipped to mid wicket by Parag for a single, Chahar struck on only his second ball as Royals lost their third wicket.
Kohler-Cadmore, looking to hit the leg spinner out of the park, holed out to Jitesh Sharma at long on to walk back after a painful knock of 18 off 23 on debut.
After conceding two runs in his opening over, Chahar piled on the pressure in his next over as he gave away five in his next.
In the 12th over, he received some punishment from Ravichandran Ashwin, who hit the leg-spinner for a six and two boundaries off consecutive deliveries.
Chahar bounced back in his fourth and final over. Not only did he dismiss dangerman Rovman Powell, who ended up chipping a simple catch back to the bowler to fall for four.
Apart from that wicket, Chahar conceded just two runs in the 15th over Conceding just two and picking up a wicket, Chahar enjoyed a dream outing with the ball for figures of 2/26 which was instrumental in keeping Royals under the 150-run mark.
Yuzvendra Chahal
The Rajasthan Royals' bowlers were not able to sustain the momentum after a fine start.
Punjab Kings staged a great comeback in the middle overs thanks to Captain Curran's responsible half-century.
Only Yuzvendra Chahal stood out for the Royals with the ball with figures of 2/31 in his four overs. The pitch was not easy for batting as the bowlers from both teams made most of it.
Chahal, introduced in the attack in the eightth over, struck in his very first over. Jonny Bairstow, who struggled for 14 from 22 balls, looked to target Chahal with the slog sweep but could only hit it as far as Parag at deep mid wicket.
Chahal went for runs in his next two overs but ended on a high with a wicket in his final over. He gave Royals' hope by ending a crucial partnership, getting rid of Jitesh Sharma, who tried to loft it down the ground but ended up offering a simple catch to Parag at long-on.
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Photographs: BCCI
