PBKS vs RR, IPL 2021: Tyagi’s sensational final over helps Rajasthan pull off a Royal heist

RR vs PBKS, IPL 2021: With four needed off six balls, Kartik Tyagi conceded just one run; left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh’s five-for goes in vain as the Punjab side falls agonisingly short.

Rajasthan Royals players celebrate after pulling off a thrilling victory over the Punjab Kings.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) staged one of IPL’s most remarkable jailbreaks on Tuesday.

A defeat had looked very much a certainty at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with Punjab Kings (PBKS) needing just eight runs from the last two overs. With two set batsmen at the crease in the form of Aiden Makram and Nicholas Pooran, it should have been a walk in the park for Punjab. However, the penultimate over from Mustafizur Rahman yielded only four runs.

 

Still, Punjab was the favourite when Kartik Tyagi began his run-up for the final over. Off his third ball, he had Pooran caught behind. After bowling a dot ball to Deepak Hooda he had him edging too to Sanju Samson behind the stumps.

Tyagi gave no opportunity for the new man Fabian Allen to play hero. Instead, with another dot ball, Tyagi himself became the unlikely hero for RR, which won by two runs.

Sloppy fielding and a poor finish to the innings could have proved very costly for the Royals, though. KL Rahul was dropped three times, helping the Punjab captain (49, 33b, 4x4, 2x6) and his Karnataka Ranji-Trophy teammate Mayank Agarwal (67, 43b, 7x4, 2x6) put on 120. The Royals, put in to bat first, had made 185.

As it happened

The main reason for the Royals’ retreat after a fine start was Arshdeep Singh. The 22-year-old left-arm seamer bowled superbly to take his first five-wicket haul in the IPL, showing yet again that he had a mature head on his young shoulders. He kept his cool as the Royals batsmen threatened to explode on multiple occasions.

He provided the breakthrough after the Royals' new opening pair of Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal (49, 36b, 6x4, 2x6) raised fifty inside five overs. The West Indian, fresh from his brilliant run in the Caribbean Premier League and in his first game for RR, was looking in good nick before being dismissed by a diving Mayank at extra cover.

Arshdeep also removed two other dangerous-looking batsmen -- Liam Livingstone (25, 17b, 2x, 16) and Mahipal Lomror (42, 17b, 2x4, 4x6). He gave the finishing touches to the innings as well, taking two wickets off the last two balls.

Brief Scores

Rajasthan Royals: 185 all out in 20 overs. (Y Jaiswal 49, Evin Lewis 36; Arshdeep Singh 5/32, M Shami 3/21)

Punjab Kings: 183 for 4 in 20 overs. (M Agarwal 67, KL Rahul 49; R Tewatiya 1/23)

WHAT THEY SAID Sanju Samson, RR captain: Somewhere we had that fight left. We knew we had some special bowlers. We had top fielding plans for every batter. We were happy with our score. We are a better bowling and fielding team too. We could have won the game early if there weren't drops early on. Kartik Tyagi, Player of the Match:  Was injured during the India leg. Felt sad. This feels really good. I have been talking to people. They keep telling me that things keep changing in this format, so I need to keep believing. Today, I was fortunate to play a big role in this special game. KL Rahul, PBKS skipper: We need to see how we can handle pressure better. It's happened to the best in the game. Tough one to swallow that you haven't learnt from your previous mistakes. We bowled decent lengths in the first six. Unfortunate that edges got it away from us. But we pulled this back nicely with the ball.