Skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 86 and four wickets by Nathan Ellis helped Punjab Kings to their second straight IPL victory with a tense five-run win over Rajasthan Royals yesterday.
Punjab rode on the left-handed Dhawan’s 56-ball knock and his 90-run opening stand with Prabhsimran Singh, who hit 60, to post 197-4 after being invited to bat first in Guwahati.
Australia’s Ellis, an up and coming pace bowler, then shined in his second game of his IPL debut season to return figures of 4-30 and keep down Rajasthan to 192-7 but not after a scare.
Shimron Hetmyer (36) and impact player Dhruv Jurel (32 not out) put on a dangerous stand of 61 off 26 balls to lift Rajasthan from a precarious 124-6 and raise hopes of a turnaround.
But the asking rate proved too much and Hetmyer run out in the final over, which started with Rajasthan needing 16, sealed the deal for Punjab with Sam Curran keeping calm in the 20th over.
Rajasthan lost two early wickets to Arshdeep Singh’s left-arm pace and Ellis soon took over when he sent back Jos Buttler with his caught and bowled.
Ellis soon cut short Samson’s knock on 42 and took down Riyan Parag for 20 on successive balls between overs to be on a hat-trick saved by Hetmyer.
Earlier Prabhsimran set the tone for Punjab’s domination as the 22-year-old talent hit his maiden IPL fifty and struck three sixes. Dhawan took time to get into the groove and allowed his younger partner to take centre stage as Prabhsimran smashed the bowlers around in his 34-ball knock. He finally fell to a stunning outfield catch by Buttler who covered good ground from long-off to take a diving catch as his elbows hit the ground. Jason Holder was the bowler.

BRIEF SCORES
Punjab Kings 197 for 4 (Dhawan 86*, Prabhsimran 60) beat Rajasthan Royals 192 for 7 (Samson 42, Ellis 4-30) by 5 runs

Kolkata sign England’s Roy to fill Iyer and Shakib void
Kolkata Knight Riders have signed England opener Jason Roy for the ongoing IPL, the organisers said yesterday, to bolster their batting lineup weakened by the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Shakib Al Hasan.
Kolkata captain Iyer has been ruled out of entire IPL with a lower back injury which would require surgery and keep him out of the World Test Championship final against Australia in June as well.
All-rounder Shakib, currently leading Bangladesh in a one-off Test against Ireland in Mirpur, has also conveyed his unavailability citing national team commitments.
Kolkata spent $341,671 to buy Roy, who played the 2021 season for Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL organisers said in a statement.