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Celebrations began among Punjab Kings spectators at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh, with franchise co-owner Preity Zinta present at the venue and presiding over the proceedings. The Bollywood actress was delighted as stand-in captain Sam Curran took two wickets in the final over of the match to reduce Rajasthan Royals to seven before the start of the final over. However, Zinta's celebrations were cut short in the space of just five balls as Shimron Hetmeyer blasted two sixes in three balls to crush PBKS' hopes in a thriller.
Rajasthan Ashutosh Sharma, who came in as an impact player at number 8, was always the favorite in the run chase even as he scored 31 runs off just 16 balls to take the team's total close to 150. Powerplay, but managed only 38 runs at that stage with Tanush Kotyan, the tailender promoted primarily as opener, visibly struggling with the bat.
Rajasthan managed to keep the asking price under check before Kagiso Rabada claimed two quick wickets after Kotyan was dismissed in the ninth over. Punjab Fight bravely. Rajasthan were never allowed to settle later on as wickets kept tumbling at both ends, leaving the table-toppers chasing 33 runs off the last 16 balls, with five wickets in hand.
Hetmyer and Rovman Powell then put on 18 off four balls to reduce the equation to 12 off 10 balls before Curran took two wickets in the 19th over to send Zinta into raptures. And he looked confident of his side's third win of the ongoing season as Arshdeep Singh braced for the final over against Hetmyer.
Zinta's hopes rose after the left-hander bowled two back-to-back yorkers for no runs, but the celebrations ended after Hetmyer flashed down the track to clobber a half-volley for a flat six over long-on. A fumble by Curran in the deep, the West Indies batsman hit a high full toss for a six on the final ball of the over to fine leg before handing it to Hetmyer to sneak two runs off the next ball as RR crossed the finish line.
Zinta was nervous before bowling the last ball and then suffered a heart attack as PBKS suffered its fourth defeat of the ongoing season, which is eighth in the points table.
“The wicket was a bit slow, but we didn't start well with the bat and didn't finish well at the end. It was a good effort from the lower order, good (closer to) 150, good bowling. , we took them down, unfortunately we stuck to our plans, bowled and fielded well, but I am confident that we will bounce back in the next game,” Curran said after the match.
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