Mahipal Lomror batting heroics was followed by a sensational last over by Kartik Tyagi as Rajasthan Royals defeated the Punjab Kings by 2 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.


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Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul innings of 67 and 49 respectively for the Punjab Kings went in vain as their middle order failed them miserably after such a good start. For the Royals, Kartik Tyagi was the man of the hour as the pacer conceded just one run in the last over and picked two wickets to give his team a victory for the ages.


Chasing 185, PBKS had the best possible start as both of their openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul displayed brilliant temperament and stunning flowing shots in the powerplay. They propelled the Kings to 49 runs in the first six overs. The team in pink dropped, KL Rahul twice during the powerplay, which in the end proved very dearly to them.



In the 10th over of the innings, Mayank Agarwal brought up his half-century, and also completed his 2,000 IPL runs. After a much needed boundary-less over, Rajasthan pegged Punjab for the first time in the match during the 12th over when Chetan Sakariya sent opposition team captain KL Rahul back to the pavilion. KL Rahul edged to short-third at the score of 49.


Soon, Rahul Tewatia struck in the 13th over as he sent back dangerous-looking Mayank Agarwal to the pavilion. Agarwal walked off after scoring 67 off 43.


With two new batsmen on the pitch, Rajasthan tried to shift the momentum of the match but Aiden Markram and Nicolas Pooran carefully stepped forward. The duo slowly stabilised the ship for Kings and carefully picked the loose balls at death. Punjab needed just four runs to win off the last six balls.


But Kartik Tyagi had other plans in his mind as the pacer conceded just one run in the last over and picked two wickets as well to give Rajasthan a sensational win from the jaws of defeat.



Earlier, Mahipal Lomror and Yashasvi Jaiswal helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) with the bat as the team in pink posted a score of 185 in twenty overs after getting bowled out against PBKS. Lomror and Jaiswal played innings of 43 and 49 respectively for the Royals. Debutant Evin Lewis also played an important inning of 36 in 21 balls. For Punjab, Arshdeep Singh scalped five wickets while Mohammad Shami returned with three.


Put in to bat first, Rajasthan enjoyed a great start in the contest as their openers Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal came with all guns blazing. Both batsmen took the attack to Punjab bowlers as they amassed 53 runs in the first five overs of the innings.


Arshdeep Singh then provided the much-needed breakthrough for PBKS in the last over of powerplay as Evin Lewis walked back to the pavilion for 36 off 31 after Mayank Agarwal took a superb diving catch.


In the eight over, Punjab handed RR another blow as Ishan Porel took the wicket of their captain Sanju Samson. He walked back for 4 off 5 after edging one to KL Rahul. Despite losing two wickets, runs kept coming for RR as Jaiswal continued the hammering of bowlers with Liam Livingstone on the other side also giving him hand.



But in the 11th over of the innings, Arshdeep Singh struck again as he removed the dangerous Liam Livingstone thanks to a stunning catch from Fabian Allen at the boundary. The right-hander made 25 off 17.


Mahipal Lomror who was the new batsman on the pitch displayed no signs of going to defence as he smashed back to back sixes on Adil Rashid in the 13th over. In the very next over, Yashasvi Jaiswal missed out on his half-century by one run as Harpreet Brar edged him to the fielder in cover. Jaiswal walked back after an impressive 49 off 36.


In the 15th over, Mahipal Lomror took the matter into his hands as he along with Riyan Parag gathered 24 runs in Hooda's over. Mohammed Shami then removed Parag in next over while Arshdeep got dangerous-looking Lomror later. Mahipal Lomror scored a sizzling 43 off 17.


During the penultimate over of the innings, Shami removed Rahul Tewatia and Chris Morris. While Arshdeep got his fourth and fifth wicket of the innings in the last over after sending Chetan Sakariya and Kartik Tyagi back to the pavilion.


Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals (Yashasvi Jaiswal 49, Mahipal Lomror 43; Arshdeep Singh 5/32, Mohammad Shami 3/21) vs Punjab Kings(Mayank Agarwal 67, KL Rahul 49; Kartik Tyagi 2-29, Rahul Tewatia 1-23)