IPL 2021, PBKS vs RR - Kartik Tyagi's 5 last over dot balls produce 2-run win for Royals

Kartik Tyagi's final over stunned Punjab Kings as he only conceded 1 run and took two wickets while defending 4 runs.

Rajasthan Royals 185 (Jaiswal 49, Lomror 43, Arshdeep 5/32, Shami 3/21) beat Punjab Kings 183 for 4 (Agarwal 67, Rahul 49, Tyagi 2/29, Tewatia 1/23) by two runs

Kartik Tyagi conceded only 1 run in the final over. (Image: BCCI/IPL)

The 32nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was played on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 and it was between the two teams Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) which are placed at sixth and seventh positions respectively in the points table. The match was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

Dubai witnesses last over showdown between RR and PBKS after their April 12 thriller in Mumbai

What the contest boiled down to was another thriller like the first game this season between the two sides and quite remarkably this time around as well the team batting second fell short of the eventual target in the last over. Just that the roles of winners and losers were interchanged as the Royals emerged winners this time around by a slender margin of two runs.

Five dot balls by Kartik Tyagi in the last over seals the deal for Royals

But there is a difference. Rajasthan Royals had their backs against the walls with Punjab Kings needing just four runs off the final over with eight wickets intact. It was then that the young seamer Kartik Tyagi was brought on for bowling the 20th over and he managed to defend four runs in the last over of the game.

Kartik bowled a very tight line in the last over with some brilliant full-length deliveries outside the off-stump not allowing the batters off the hook. He just conceded one run in the over and took two important wickets of settled batters Nicolas Pooran and Deepak Hooda. He had them both caught behind and did not allow Fabian Allen to free his arms on the last ball when three runs were required by Punjab for sealing the deal. This time too the ball landed into wicketkeeper Samson’s gloves and Royals had won by two runs to effect an incredible turnaround in a game where they looked mostly out of sorts through the second half.

Fair to say that the five dot balls including two wicket-taking ones by Tyagi sealed the deal for Royals against Punjab.

PBKS win the toss, opt to bowl

Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first. There were debutants included in both the teams. For Punjab, Aiden Markram, Adil Rashid and Ishan Porel wore the team’s jersey for the first time while on the other hand for Rajasthan, it was Evin Lewis who appeared for the first time for them.

“We'll bowl first. It's a no brainer, a fresh wicket with grass on. We don't know how it will play and I prefer chasing. I was just telling a few people in the dressing room that it just felt like yesterday that we were playing IPL 2020. We have a lot that we've learnt from last year. We are all professionals and we have tried hard in the heat to prepare ourselves,” said KL Rahul, PBKS captain at the toss.

Punjab Kings Playing XI - KL Rahul (w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Fabian Allen, Adil Rashid, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel.

“We are good at chasing and setting totals, so we were happy to do both. We have really great talent and characters in our team. It is a very positive atmosphere. Sangakkara brings in the experience, he knows what to communicate at what point. He just wanted us to relax,” said Sanju Samson, RR captain at the toss.

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Evin Lewis, Sanju Samson (w/c), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi.

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RR set PBKS a target of 186

Rajasthan Royals while batting first scored 185 runs all out. The players who scored runs for Rajasthan were the two Indian uncapped players, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mahipal Lomror.

Jaiswal and Evin Lewis built a great partnership of 54 runs in six overs of powerplay. They both attacked the pacers as well as the spinners. Lewis scored 36 runs from 21 balls with seven fours and a six. He got dismissed on the fourth ball of the powerplay’s last over.

After Lewis' dismissal, Sanju Samson was sent back to the pavilion very early. After Sanju, Liam Livingstone came into bat and built up a partnership with Jaiswal of 48 runs before Livingstone got dismissed through a stunning catch by Fabien Allen. He scored 25 runs from 17 balls which included two fours and a six.

Before getting dismissed, Yashasvi Jaiswal played a fabulous innings of 49 runs from 36 balls with six fours and two sixes. Mahipal Lomror scored a quickfire 43 runs from 17 balls which included two fours and four sixes which helped Rajasthan set a target of 186 runs in 20 overs for Punjab.

The stars for Punjab in bowling were Arshdeep Singh with figures of 5/32. Mohammed Shami ended with figures of 3/21.

Arshdeep took the wickets of Evin Lewis, Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Chetan Sakariya and Kartik Tyagi.

Rahul-Mayank start the perfect chase for PBKS

While chasing the target of 186 runs, the Punjab Kings openers KL Rahul and Mayank Aggarwal built up an impressive partnership of 120 runs. This is the fifth 100-lus partnership in this year’s Indian Premier League by the duo. Both the openers attacked all the bowlers in their partnership.

Rahul scored 49 runs from 33 balls which included four fours and two sixes and Mayank scored 67 runs from 43 balls which included seven fours and two sixes before getting dismissed.

After the dismissal of the openers, Nicolas Pooran and Aiden Markram came into the crease and scored 32 runs and unbeaten 26 runs but that was not enough to win the game for their side.

Rajasthan Royals were very sloppy in the field as they dropped four catches in the game but in the end they were able to win the game in the last over while defending 4 runs through some tight bowling by Tyagi, who was named Player-of-the-Match.

In all the matches in which Rahul and and Mayank have produced 100-plus run partnership, Punjab Kings have lost all those five matches.

H2H Record PBKS and RR

Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals have improved upon their record in games against Punjab Kings as they are now leading by 13-10 against Punjab Kings. Their last game was a final-over thriller in Mumbai with the Punjab Kings winning by four runs.

“It's a tough one to swallow. We have been a team that has experienced games like these before. We need to see how we can handle pressure better. Trying to finish in the 18th over sometimes you go too hard and lose your way and let the opponents in. We haven't learnt from previous mistakes. We will now try to come back stronger and win the next five games. We pulled things back quite nicely with the ball, kept taking wickets, which is very crucial in this format. Getting runs for me, Mayank and even Aiden in his first IPL game was important,” said KL Rahul, Punjab Kings skipper at the post-match presentation.

“It's funny that we kept believing (that we could win). I kept the overs of Mustafizur and Tyagi for the end believing that cricket is a funny game. We just kept fighting and believing. I always believe in my bowlers, want to keep fighting and that's why I kept those two overs till the end. To be very honest, to get that score on this wicket, we felt good because we had the bowling. If we took the catches, we could have won the game earlier. People have really worked hard on their fitness,” said Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals skipper at the post-match presentation.

Player-of-the-Match Kartik Tyagi said, “I was injured during the India leg of the IPL and by the time I got fit, the tournament was suspended. Felt sad. So this feels really good. I have been talking to people over the years and they keep telling me that things keep changing in this format, so I need to keep believing.”

“I've always heard from everyone and also watched games in this format where strange things have happened. Today, I was fortunate to play a big role in something special. I was bowling a bit too short earlier, later worked on it consciously after getting a lot of feedback,” he added.

With this win, RR have displaced Kolkata Knight Riders at he fifth position in the points table. Mumbai Indians remains at number 4 but RR has tied up in terms of points. Mumbai Indians shall be feeling heat going deeper in the tournament as RR has opened it.

Delhi Capitals play Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 22.

Twitter Reactions as RR beat PBKS by 2 run in Final Over

Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by 2-run in the final over courtesy Kartik Tyagi who defended 4 runs. People went crazy as Punjab Kings lost game from a very unusual position and congratulated Rajasthan Royals for pulling off such a heist. Fans and former cricket players showed their love via Twitter.

Here are some of the finest Twitter reactions:

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