Two Hetmyer sixes clinch a nailbiter
It came down to 10 off the last over
Arshdeep bowls two perfect yorkers, first up, Hetmyer facing. Two dots.
Now 10 required off 4, Arshdeep misses the length on the third attempted yorker, and Hetmyer gets under it to club it into the boundary cushion behind the bowler. A few centimetres short, and it would have been a four.
Second-to-last ball, Hetmyer bludgeons towards long on, and Sam Curran - who has bowled nicely tonight - fumbles the ball, allowing a comfortable two (chances are they would have scampered two anyway).
Then last ball, two runs needed for Royals to win, Arshdeep delivers the worst of all balls - a knee-high full toss on the stumps that Hetmyer gleefully thumps over the fine leg boundary.
It was valiant from Arshdeep, but he couldn't quite close it out. Hetmyer and Royals are ecstatic. This is the fifth win out of six games for them. And their second tight finish in a row - this time they've won.
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Big hits from Hetmyer
A four off the penultimate ball of the 18th over, muscled through cow corner.
A six off the next ball, thumped over deep fine leg on one foot.
Royals' hope now rest on two West Indians, and so far Hetmyer is up to it.
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Rabada helps Kings take it deep
As we head into the unexpectedly tight conclusion of this game, the Punjab Kings bowler who has kept his team in it is Kagiso Rabada, who has bowled his four overs for just 18. He was tight with his lines, read the batters beautifully, and built pressure.
2 The number of boundaries Rabada conceded in his four overs. Also the number of wickets he took.
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Watch that Samson run out
Samson's just been dismissed by Rabada, but this is that wonderful piece of keeping from him earlier to get rid of Liam Livingstone earlier. Worth many rewatches.
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Jaiswal better than before, without quite smashing it
Jaiswal's been struggling so far this IPL season. Five matches in, he hasn't had a big innings. And although he was Royals' motor through the powerplay while Kotian struggled today, he didn't quite nail an innings either.
Spotting a short wide ball from Kagiso Rabada, he tried to carve it square over the offside, and only mis-hit it to deep third. He's out for 39 off 28.
24 Jaiswal's highest score in IPL 2024 before this evening.
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Livingstone, who would have presumed?
In the first two of his overs, Livingstone - bowling legbreaks - was arguably doing more than any of the Punjab Kings frontliners to wreck this Royals chase. His first four balls were dots. The only four he conceded was because of fielder error. And then, when Tanush Kotian tried to run at him, Livingstone took out his leg stump.
They've given him a third over, but Sanju Samson seems to be restoring a little bit of sanity, having now hit him for a six down the ground and a four through cow corner. Still, who would have thought Livingstone was going to be the big challenge through the early part of this innings?
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Royals conserving wickets for a change
So far in the IPL, they've lost early wickets. This time, with not a huge target to chase, Royals have made it to five overs without loss. What's more, Yashasvi Jaiswal is up at 21 off 13 so far.
Here's how the first five overs have gone.
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Don't collide with the keeper
Sorry to keep harping on about this, but this is one of the first lessons you learn in cricket. If the player with gloves on thinks they can get there, you leave them to it. There were two occasions in the first innings where Samson when for catches, but others competed for the catch. (It's possible he needed to call louder too.)
On the second of those occasions, the catch went down and it hurt Royals.
Meanwhile, Royals have started decently - they're 16 for 0 after three overs.
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Ashutosh almost finnesses the finish
20 Runs Ashutosh Sharma scored off the 9 balls he faced after being dropped.
Ashutosh Sharma, the impact sub, was nine off six when he was dropped. He collected two runs off that ball, then slammed two sixes and a four to end with 31 off 16 (he was out off the last ball of the innings), and give Punjab Kings some semblance of an acceptable total.
If you want to know who is happier with a Punjab Kings' 147 for 8 off 20, though, just look at the face of Patron Saint Kumar Sangakkara who is waving his Royals troops back into the dressing room with a look of utter satisfaction. They think they can chase this down. Kings definitely have to bowl very well from here, on what seems a pretty good batting trap (if one with a decent amount of bounce).
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Let the keeper catch it!
Rajasthan Royals are going to need to have a "Calling for catches" session, led ideally by their director Kumar Sangakkara, who will tell them that if the keeper calls for a catch, the keeper should be left alone to take it.
This time it's the bowler Avesh Khan himself that goes after this very high chance off the top edge of Ashutosh's bat. Samson was hell-bent on getting their with his gloves, but so was Avesh for some reason, and they collide and spill the chance. (Earlier, the keeper had called for one alongside Kuldeep Sen, but Sen had managed to hold on on that occasion.)
Just to rub it in, Ashutosh smokes two sixes - over long on and long off - later in the over.
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Samson conjures up a wicket!
That's spectacular work from the Royals' Keeper/Captain. Liam Livingstone turned for the second without really thinking, after Ashutosh Sharma had hit through midwicket. The fielders in that region close in on the ball, and fire a throw off quickly. Livingstone has been turned back and tries to make his ground, but Sanju Samson has collected this ball about a metre away from the stumps and as he is tumbling, fired off an under-arm throw that finds Livingstone about 15 centimetres short. Spectacular work from him.
Punjab Kings just are not able to get going.
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Good news never lasts for Punjab Kings
The over after they hit two sixes and a four, they lose their highest scoring batter so far, Jitesh Sharma, who tries to bash Avesh Khan over the legside but hits it off the splice of the bat to mid off, who takes a lollipop of a catch.
This is not a pretty worm graph.
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Punjab Kings tee off, finally
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It's taken until over 16, but Punjab Kings have finally managed to hit three boundaries in an over - this bowled by Kuldeep Sen. Jitesh Sharma hit the first big one, before Liam Livingstone carted two over the legside, the second a big six over deep midwicket. A skyscraper in a graph that otherwise looks like a city of desert nomadic settlements.
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Maharaj finishes strong
Losing Aswhin would be big for any team, but tonight his replacement Keshav Maharaj has done beautifully as his replacement. He dismissed Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran, and conceded only 23 from his four overs. Lovely, controlled bowling, with canny variations of pace and line.
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An over with boundaries? :shockedemoji: ...and there goes another wicket
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Wow, so there is no ban on boundaries for Punjab Kings in this game. Jitesh Sharma stomps down the track and hits Keshav Maharaj back over his head. Shashank Singh crashes him over extra cover too.
But oh, just as I'm writing that, Kuldeep Sen has Shashank miscuing a pull (third time this innings) to Dhruv Jurel (who takes his third catch this innings).
Punjab just can't get their innings out of first gear.
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Curran goes too
It's falling apart very quickly for Punjab Kings. Sam Curran pulls a skiddy Maharaj ball to Dhruv Jurel, and departs for six.
Kings' top order is stinking the place up. This is good bowling, but not exceptionally difficult bowling.
72 The collective strike rate of Punjab Kings' No. 2, 3, and 4.
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Boundary drought
Since the end of the third over, Punjab Kings have scored one boundary, in the six overs since. They've lost three wickets since.
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Marshmallow soft dismissal for Bairstow
If Shimron Hetmeyer could have done two ballet pirouettes and a good few repetitions of the worm and still have caught that.
Jonny Bairstow was trying to slap this Keshav Maharaj delivery over the offside in the eighth over. Ends up only gently poking it to cover off the top off the bat. Hetmeyer is waiting for simplest of catches. Could have even caught that if Kuldeep Sen was about to rugby tackle him.
Punjab Kings are desperate for a good phase of play. Rajasthan Royals are ALL OVER THEM.
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Chahal gets Prabhsimran Singh
After a modest powerplay, in which Punjab Kings made 38 for 1 only, the batting team was desperate for some quick runs. Prabhsimran tried to provide that by running at Yuzvendra Chahal and trying to slap him high over wide long on. But he's hitting straight into the wind. The ball doesn't come close to clearing the boundary. Dhruv Jurel is safely under that.
14 Number of balls Prabhsimhran Singh took to make his 10.
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Kuldeep Sen steals a catch out of the keeper's gloves
Lovely first few balls from Avesh Khan, which yield him a wicket fourth ball. Taide tried to pull a short delivery on the waist, but it got a bit big on him. and seamed away a touch. That was enough for it to take a big top edge, and it almost looked like Royals were going to make a mess of it, when both Sanju Samson and Kuldeep Sen closed in on it. Samson was ready with his gloves, but Sen cupped his hands just above him, and poached the catch from his captain.
Worked out okay for Royals in the end, but there would have been more than a few glares at Sen had he dropped it. You've got to let the keeper take those, once he's called for it.
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Taide gets Punjab rolling
13 Number of runs Punjab Kings scored in the second over, bowled by Kuldeep Sen
A couple of glorious drives through the offside get Punjab humming though. Kuldeep Sen went looking for that early swing, but found only the very middle of Taide's blade, and Punjab Kings are off.
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Boult swings it early
Only two runs off the bat, and some early shape for Boult, who beat Taide's outside edge (narrowly) with the penultimate ball of that over. Only two off the bat off that first over.
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Ashwin and Buttler out
The big injury news is from the RR side, who will not have R Ashwin and Jos Buttler available today. Will that break their rhythm this tournament? They have won four of their first five matches.
1 Rajasthan Royals' position on the IPL table after five matches
Teams:
Punjab Kings XI: Atharva Taide, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran (c), Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Rajasthan Royals XI: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Tanush Kotian, Trent Boult, Keshav Maharaj, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal
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Live Show
Our pre-match show, with all the pre-game analysis and breakdown is live now, below.
Today we've got Tom Moody, former Punjab franchise coach, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Wasim Jaffer, previewing the game with Raunak Kapoor.
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Welcome!
These two teams have played out a lot of thrillers. It's weird that they aren't a rivalry yet. There's been last ball finishes. Rahul Tewatia pulling sixes out of the hat. IPL peaks when the Royals and the Kings play.
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