Is Wankhede of IPL 2021 Sharjah of IPL 2020? I think that's the case. Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings faced off today in the 4th match of this year's IPL and the match went down to the last ball and Punjab was able to get those crucial 2 points in their first match. Rajasthan came too close in the end but couldn't cross the line on the final ball of the match.
Let's talk in detail about the match now. Rajasthan's captain, Sanju Samson won the toss and asked Punjab to bat first. Punjab looked aggressive from the first over and both the openers started playing the big shots from the first over itself. Mayank Agarwal couldn't last for long though and was dismissed by the debutant, Chetan Sakariya. KL Rahul was then joined by Chris Gayle and they both did what they are known for. Gayle and Rahul continued the slaughter from both ends and they put up a strong start for their team. Gayle was eventually dismissed on 40 as Ben Stokes caught him in the deep. Gayle was lucky to survive a dropped catch by Stokes a couple of overs before that. But then came Deepak Hooda. Sending him ahead of Nicholas Pooran seemed like a surprising move given the reputation of Pooran to hit the ball out of the ground with much ease. But today even Pooran would have appreciated every shot of Hooda. He was just brilliant in the middle and smashed the ball all around the park. His 28 balls - 64 runs included 6 massive sixes and he did his job brilliantly for which he was sent. KL was unlucky to miss out on his century as Rahul Tewatia pulled off a spectacular catch by throwing the ball inside before he went over the boundary line and came back just in time to catch the ball. Punjab finished on 221 in their 20 overs and Rajasthan needed 222 to win the match. Sakariya was impressive for Rajasthan as he conceded just 31 runs in his quota of 4 overs and took 3 crucial wickets to stop Punjab from adding another 10-15 runs.
Rajasthan needed a strong start but they lost Stokes in the very first over of the second inning. Shami dismissed him for a duck. The other opener Manan Vohra tried playing his shots but was soon dismissed by Arshdeep Singh on 12. It was now on Samson and Joss Buttler to take their side close to the target and give themselves a chance to win the match. And they both started playing their shots from the 5th over and Rajasthan reached 95 runs in 10 overs. Buttler was bowled by Jhye Richardson just when he was looking set to score a big one. Samson was lucky as he was dropped twice and he made full use of it as he eventually went on to make a century on his debut game as a captain. Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag played useful cameos on the other end while Samson stayed not out on the other end till the end. But that was not good enough apparently for Rajasthan. Arshdeep Singh bowled a brilliant final over to defend 13 runs. Rajasthan needed 5 off the last ball and Samson had to hit a 6 to win the match for his side or hit a 4 to take the game to the super over. But he could do neither and was held in the deep and Punjab won a close one.
Last year Punjab was losing all these close matches, this year they have started with a win. They would be mighty pleased with their batting performance and would count on their batsmen to continue the good run throughout the tournament. Their bowlers leaked a lot of runs in the middle overs and two of their most expensive buys this season, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith conceded 104 runs in their combined 8 overs. Punjab would expect them to make a comeback in the upcoming matches. Mohammad Shami and Arshdeep were brilliant with the ball and took 5 wickets combined by giving away just 68 runs in their combined 8 overs.
For Rajasthan too, it was their bowling that let them down. Except for Sakariya, nobody was able to contain the run rate and everyone was hammered all around the park by KL, Gayle, and Deepak. They would hope their bowlers perform better in their upcoming matches.
It was yet another tight finish in the end and the match could have gone either way. Punjab was lucky to win it eventually. But the excitement is far from over in IPL. Up next on 13th April, Mumbai Indians would take on Kolkata Knight Riders on MA Chidambaram Stadium. Kolkata had won their first match and Mumbai had lost theirs. Both the teams would be eyeing those 2 points and would want to win the match. Let's hope the best team wins. Until then, stay safe.
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