Dubai, Sep 21: Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (49) and Mahipal Lomror (43) starred with the bat but Punjab Kings pulled things back in the rear end to bowl out Rajasthan Royals for 185 in their IPL match here on Tuesday.
Arshdeep Singh returned with a five-wicket haul after Mohammed Shami claimed three as the duo restricted Rajasthan inside the 200-mark after they were going hammer and tongs at one stage.
Put into bat, Jaiswal was part of in two vital partnerships, adding 54 with his new opening partner Evin Lewis (36) and then sharing another 48 off 28 balls with Liam Livingstone (25).
Lomror then smashed his way to a 17-ball 43, studded with four sixes and two fours.
However, Punjab pulled things back in the end with Shami claiming three wickets to restrict RR inside 200.
Earlier, Jaiswal smashed two successive fours in the first over off Shami, while debutant Lewis sent Ishan Porel, also playing his first match, sailing over for a six as RR had a flying start.
The West Indies batsman punished Porel for bowling short and wide, blasting four boundaries in the fourth over.
Deepak Hooda was then taken to the cleaners as he bled 13 runs.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh then produced the breakthrough, deceiving Lewis with a slower ball as Mayank Agarwal took a fine low catch.
After the powerplay, RR were at 57 for one.
Jaiswal then reverse swept England spinner Adil Rashid for a six, before depositing him over long off for another maximum.
RR skipper Sanju Samson failed to make any impact as a terrific one-handed catch by KL Rahul ended his stay and gave Porel his maiden wicket.
Livingstone then joined Jaiswal, who picked up another maximum off Rashid in the 9th over.
Jasiwal raised the team hundred with another four off Harpreet Brar in the 11th over.
Livingstone also tried to match his partner as he scooped one fine over KL Rahul and then smacked one over mid-wicket off Arshdeep.
A sensational catch at deep midwicket by Fabian Allen sent Livingstone back to the hut with RR slipping to 116 for 3.
Jaiswal couldn't complete his fifty as his leading edge was held on to by Mayank at short cover.
New man Lomror then went on a six-hitting spree, blasting two maximums off Rashid before sending Hooda for a couple more in the 16th over as RR crossed the 150-mark.
Lomror also smashed two fours as Hooda conceded 24 runs off his second over.
However, Shami and Arshdeep restricted their opponent to a competitive score in the end.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Washington (AP): Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the US attacks on Iran, the military said Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that has sparked retaliation from the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred. The statement said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
Central Command described the situation “as fluid” and said it would withhold the identities of the service members who were killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.
The US military also denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn't even come close.”
President Donald Trump had warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” the Republican president said in a video address released early Saturday. “That often happens in war. But we're doing this not for now. We're doing this for the future.”
Following the US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other leaders, Iran's counterattacks have struck US bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.
Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the Lincoln and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.
The Ford was part of the US raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven US troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.
One of those injured received the Medal of Honor during Trump's State of the Union address last week. Trump said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted the lead CH-47 Chinook helicopter that descended on the “heavily protected military fortress” where Maduro was staying.
Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.
The US military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country's government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.
