A 54-run opening stand, Yashasvi Jaiswal's 49 off 36 balls and Mahipal Lomror's 17-ball 43 had Rajasthan Royals cruising at 169/5 but Arshdeep Singh's wicket of Lomror off the first ball of the 17th over started a spiral of wickets that saw Sanju Samson's team fold for 185 on Tuesday night's IPL 2021 match in Dubai.
Arshdeep Singh celebrates a wicket with his team-mates.
(Photo: BCCI/IPL)
Rajasthan looked destined for a mammoth total at one stage but then Shami picked two wickets in the 19th over before Arshdeep scalped three in the 20th to bundle them out. Arshdeep finished with his maiden five-wicket haul in T20s - 5/32.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (49), Evin Lewis (36) and Liam Livingstone (25) set the base for the middle and lower order to make merry but barring Mahipal Lomror' cameo of 43, the others Rahul Tewatia, Chirs Morris and Riyan Parag failed to put the finishing touches to this innings.
Every time when RR were on top, Arshdeep was brought back into the attack and he delivered with some crucial wickets. He also became the third-youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in an IPL game. Arshdeep has now got the third-most wickets (11) among Indians in the last two seasons in the death overs behind Mohammed Shami (17) and Jasprit Bumrah (13).
Meanwhile, Shami also showed a glimpse of form while Ishan Porel and Harpreet Brar chipped in with one wicket each. Adil Rashid who was playing his first IPL match was hammered for 35 runs in three overs.
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