Karthik Tyagi scripts incredible two-run win for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab
Dubai, Sep 21: Fast bowler Karthik Tyagi bowled a sensational last over as Rajasthan Royals pulled off an incredible two-run win over Punjab Kings in an Indian Premier League (IPL) thriller here on Tuesday.
Punjab required four runs off the last six balls but Tyagi dismissed Nicholas Pooran (32) and Deepak Hooda (0) and gave away only one run to snatch the win for his team from the jaws of defeat.
Punjab ended their innings at 183 for four, chasing 186 to win.
Sanju Samson's side was seemingly down and out when KXIP opening pair Mayank Agarwal (67) and KL Rahul (49) put on 120 runs in 11.5 overs.
With Aiden Markram (26 not out) and Nicholas Pooran (32) going strong, it looked like it would be only a matter of time when Punjab would wrap up the match.
But in the end, Punjab made a mess in the last over to suffer their sixth defeat from nine matches.
With this win, the Royals moved to the fifth spot after four wins from eight matches.
Earlier, the 22-year-old Arshdeep Singh (5/32) complemented his senior pro Mohammed Shami (3/21) well as the duo shared eight wickets to help Punjab bowl out Rajasthan for 185 in exactly 20 overs after they were going strong at 169 for 5 in 17 overs.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (49) and Mahipal Lomror (43) scored bulk of the runs for Rajasthan.
Chasing the total, Mayank and KL Rahul looked in good touch. KL Rahul, who was dropped thrice, smashed 4 fours and 2 sixes in his 33-ball innings. He also crossed 3000 IPL runs during his knock.
Mayank too produced seven hits to the fence and also clobbered two sixes in his 43-ball knock.
Once the Punjab skipper was caught off Chetan Sakariya (1/31) in 12th over, Agarwal too was removed by Rahul Tewatia (1/23).
Markram and Pooran then played some delightful shots to keep their chase on track before they were undone by a brilliant last-over by Tyagi.
Earlier, opener Jaiswal was part of 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, in the last three overs, Shami claimed three wickets and Arshdeep completed his five-for to wrap up the RR innings.
Put in to bat, Jaiswal and Lewis gave RR a flying start with the former smashing two successive fours off Shami in the first over and the latter smacking Ishan Porel, also playing his first match, for a six.
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.
Arshdeep then produced the breakthrough, deceiving Lewis with a slower ball as Mayank Agarwal took a fine low catch as RR were 57 for one after the powerplay.
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, RR lost the plot after that as Shami and Arshdeep restricted their opponent to a competitive score in the end.
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3 US troops killed, 5 seriously wounded during Iran attacks, military says
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.
