Picture Credit: Twitter/IPL
The 52nd match of IPL 2022 is underway between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Both teams are facing each other for the first time this season. And it started pretty well for Punjab as Mayank Agarwal called it right at the toss. The Punjab skipper then decided to bat first and the new opening duo of Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan aggregated some quick runs.
While Bairstow was being the aggressor, Dhawan was playing second fiddle. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson was desperate for a wicket inside the powerplay. He tried four bowlers in the first six overs. In the end, it was R Ashwin who stepped up and did the job for Rajasthan as he got rid of Shikhar Dhawan. Although Ashwin was the bowler, the credit should go to Jos Buttler for pulling off an absolute screamer in the middle.
Fielding at mid-on, Buttler timed his jump to perfection to pluck the ball out of thin air. Ashwin bowled an off-spin which turned a tad after pitching. Dhawan tried to maximize as he played a lofted shot. But little did he know Buttler's intentions. The RR fielder put in a valiant effort to get rid of the southpaw batter.
Watch Buttler's catch of Dhawan here:
Punjab post 189/5!
Although Shikhar Dhawan departed early, Punjab Kings batted well enough to post 189/5 in their 200 overs. Jonny Bairstow played a handy knock of 56 off 40 balls with the help of eight boundaries and a six. Bhanuka Rajapaksa once again played a quick little cameo as he aggregated 27 runs off 18 balls. Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone provided the final flourish as they stitched a quick 50-run partnership in 25 balls. While Livingstone departed after scoring 22 off 14, Sharma stayed till the end and scored 38* off just 18 balls.