Rajasthan Royals 152 for 7 (Jaiswal 39, Hetmyer 27*, Rabada 2-18) beat Punjab Kings 147 for 8 (Jitesh 29, Maharaj 2-23) by three wickets
But then Kagiso Rabada bowled his four overs for 18, and suddenly the back end of this match became tight. Rabada had taken two big wickets as well – those of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson – and as such was doing as much as many Kings player to produce a match-winning hand.
The final word, though, went to Hetmyer, who, despite an excellent penultimate over from Sam Curran and a good effort from Arshdeep Singh, won with a six off the last ball. There had been two sixes from Hetmyer in the lead-up to that.
The last over
Sam Curran dismissed Rovman Powell and Keshav Maharaj in the 19th over while conceding only 10, and Royals needed 10 off the 20th over. Hetmyer was on strike, so it always seemed likely, but then Arshdeep delivered two glorious yorkers first up, which the batter could not make anything of, and the equation came down to 10 off four.
The key shot in the final over was Hetmyer’s desperate wallop down the ground off the third ball. Arshdeep had not missed his length by much, but this was not quite in the blockhole. Hetmyer swung hard and managed to bully this ball into the boundary cushion – not over it – back behind the bowler.
Only centimetres were in it. Had Arshdeep pitched a fraction fuller, Hetmyer would not have been able to get under it. Had Hetmyer not hit it with slightly fewer Newtons of force behind it, the shot would have only brought four, and six would have been required off the last two.
Hetmyer muscled a ball towards long on and got two next ball, but the worst ball of Arshdeep’s over was the last one, and almost anyone could have hit that for a boundary. This came juicy, knee-high, and on the stumps. Hetmyer shuffled over and thwacked it over deep fine leg, clinching a thriller.
Full report to follow
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf
Source: ESPN Crickinfo