By Our Special Correspondent
Skipper Mayank Agarwal and veteran Shikhar Dhawan struck their first half –centuries of the season as Punjab Kings and rode on a fine start from the openers to post a challenging 198 for five against Mumbai Indians in an IPL match here on Wednesday. Punjab kings have deployed attack is the best form of defence philosophy during this edition of the league and there was no shift in policy as they added 97 in less than 10 overs to provide a perfect launchpad but Jasprit Bumrah’s (1/28) in 4 overs brilliance kept the score below 200. Bumrah toe-crusher which yorked the dangerous liam livingstone helped MI to keep things under check with 99 runs coming of the last 10 overs. Agarwal, who wasn’t having a great run before this game, brought his customary square off the wickets shots on the off-side and straight lofts of spinners to score 52 off 32 balls.
A battle royal is on the cards when Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans take on the sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals, two line-ups armed with potent bowling units in a top-of-the-table IPL showdown here on Thursday. The Royals put together one of the best if not best bowling attacks for this season and all their spinners and pacers have been right on the mark. The seasoned Trent Boult has continued to rein fire with the new ball and has been equally impressive in the slog overs. If the previous game against Lucknow super Gaints, he bowled a fiery opening spell to get rid of skipper KL Rahul and Krishnappa Gowtham in the very first over. Prasidh Krishna has given a glimpse of why he is touted to be the next fast-bowling sensation in Indian cricket. Alongside Boult, the duo has bowled with pace and aggression. Rookie Kuldeep Sen too proved he has the stomach to play with the bigwigs. He performed tremendously under pressure on his debut, defending 15 runs off the last over against LSG.
The latter is the leading wicket taker in the league at the moment, spinning the opposition batters in the submission. The leg spinner has 11 scalps at and economy of 6.50. Ashwin through has not had many breakthroughs, the off-spinner has operated at an economy of 6.87 and has managed to choke the opposition for runs. It will be a tall task for the Titans batters, who are thin on experience, to navigate through the Royals bowling.
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