Mullanpur: Rising India star Yashasvi Jaiswal let his bat do the talking with a timely return to form, slamming a stroke-filled 67 to power Rajasthan Royals to a commanding 205 for four against Punjab Kings in their IPL match in Mullanpur Saturday.
The 23-year-old, who had endured a lean patch in the opening three games with scores of 1, 29 and 4, roared back to form with a fluent 44-ball fifty (3×4, 5×6) just when the spotlight on him was shifting off the field.
He had come under the scanner for his surprise move to Goa that fuelled talk of a fallout with Mumbai cricket.
Shutting the noise around him, Jaiswal and skipper Sanju Samson (38 off 26 balls) gave RR their best start of the season with an opening stand of 89 after Shreyas Iyer opted to bowl.
Lockie Ferguson dismissed both Samson and Jaiswal against the run of play in the middle overs, and Nitish Rana (12) also got out cheaply as RR lost three wickets in the 11-15 overs phase.
The dangerous Shimron Hetmyer (20 off 12 balls) also could not get going after an explosive start.
But Riyan Parag (43 not out off 25 balls) provided the late fireworks with three sixes and as many fours to lift Royals past the 200-mark for the first time at this venue.
Parag and Dhruv Jurel (13 not out off 5) added 20 runs in the last seven balls as Royals plundered 55 runs in the final three overs to finish strongly after their season-best opening stand of 89.
Jaiswal weathered a testing first over from Arshdeep Singh before unfurling his full range of strokes.
Marco Jansen bore the brunt of Jaiswal’s resurgence — first with an upper-cut six over the keeper’s head and then a clean swing over deep square leg.
The duo added 53 runs in the Power Play. He danced down the track to deposit a 142-kph Ferguson delivery over cow corner and then reached his first IPL fifty of the season in 40 balls — his 10th overall — with a crisp drive down the ground off Yuzvendra Chahal.
A six over midwicket followed, before he went after Marcus Stoinis with back-to-back boundaries.
Just when he seemed set for a bigger score, Ferguson foxed him with a well-disguised knuckleball that stayed low and rattled the stumps.
PTI
