IPL 2023: Jaiswal, Padikkal and Hetmyer keep RR's slim hopes alive with 4-wicket

Halfcenturies from Yashwasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal followed by Shimron Hetmyers stunning 46run knock powered Rajasthan Royals to a 4wicket win over Punjab Kings PBKS in a doordie match in Indian Premier League IPL 2023 at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on FridayThe Royals thus put themselves in contention for the Playoffs spots as they moved to fifth on the table with this fourwicket win while Punjab Kings are officially out of the raceAfter a shaky start Sam Currans unbeaten 49 off 31 and Shahrukh Khans quickfire 41 not out off 28 balls along with Jitesh Sharmas 31ball 44 guided Punjab Kings to 1875 in 20 oversIn reply halfcenturies from Padikkal 51 off 30 and Jaiswal 50 off 36 and Hetmyers remarkable knock of 46 in just 28 deliveries and got them close to the finish line Then Dhruv Jurel sealed the deal with a six helping his side to seal a win with two remainingChasing 188 after an expensive opening over the Royals lost Jos Buttler in the next over Then Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal hit the paddle to take the Powerplay to 571 with eight boundaries and two maximumsPBKS managed to keep the duo quiet in three overs before Padikkal pulled over deep midwicket for a six and completed his fifty with a single But Arshdeep Singh was quick to dismiss him on the next ball ending a 73run second wicket stand and Royals were reeling at 862 in 10 oversIn the next over Rahul Chahar trapped the big fish skipper Sanju Samson who looked to flick over the ropes on the leg side but did not get much elevation The ball flew straight down the throat of Rishi Dhawan at deep square leg who took an easy catchAfterwards Jaiswal and Shimron Hetmyer started punishing PBKS bowlers with their welltimed hits Soon the former brought up his fifty in 35 balls but fell to Nathan Ellis on the next ballWith 47 needed in 30 balls the Royals managed to get just two fours in the next two overs Sam Curran almost got Hetmyer in the next over but the batter immediately reviewed the decision A flatline on the ultra edge and Hetmyer stayed on with 33 needing in 18 ballsKagiso Rabada started the 18th over with a noball and Riyan Parag smacked it over deep midwicket for a six on freehit and followed that up with another maximum Rabada avenged it quickly he dismissed Parag on the last ball of the overHetmyer smashed two boundaries off Curran but departed on the next ball after playing a brilliant knock and 9 was needed in the final over to winAfter three singles came in the first three balls Dhruv Jurel smoked it down the ground over longon for a maximum to seal the win for the RoyalsEarlier batting first Prabhsimran Singh fell to Kagiso Rabada on the second ball of the innings But Punjab regrouped quickly with the help of Shikhar Dhawan and Atharva Taides strokeplay before Saini sent back Taide for a quickfire 19An over later Adam Zampa came into the attack and removed PBKS skipper Dhawan trapping him lbw as they were reduced to 483 at the end of the PowerplaySoon Saini claimed his second as he cleaned up the dangerous batter Liam Livingstone in the seventh over to get the Royals right on top in the inningsThe Royals continued to dominate the innings as no boundary came in the last four overs but Jitesh Sharma broke the shackles hitting Sandeep Sharma with two massive sixes as PBKS reached 784 in 10 oversJitesh Sharma took Saini to the cleaners hitting four six and four on three successive deliveries but the pacer has the last laugh as he removed the dangerouslooking batter on the next ball Half of the PBKS lineup was back in the pavilion as Punjab were reeling at 1175 in 15 oversThen the duo of Shahrukh and Curran took the bowlers to the cleaners as he added 46 runs off the last two overs to take Punjab to 1875 in 20 oversBrief scoresPunjab Kings 1875 in 20 overs Sam Curran 49 Shahrukh Khan 41 not out Navdeep Saini 340 lost to Rajasthan Royals 1896 in 194 overs Yashasvi Jaiswal 50 Devdutt Padikkal 51 Shimron Hetmyer 46 Kagiso Rabada 240 by four wicketsAlso ReadYashasvi Jaiswal one hell of a talent says Rajasthan Royals batter Joe RootThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever