Last Updated on 4 weeks by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Twitter reactions: Tyagi seals miracle win for RR vs PBKS | Karthik Tyagi executes miracle victory for RR against PBKS at Dubai in IPL 2021
Step aside Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings. We have a new IPL El Classico. Yet again, Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals produced a thriller, synonymous with their meetings over the past few seasons.
Yet again, and unfortunately for Punjab Kings, they blew another chase they had in the palm of their hands. With eight runs required off the final two overs with eight wickets in hand, you would have been forgiven for turning off your TV assuming the match was over. In fact, even when they needed three from three balls, the Kings were just about a 100% chance of winning.
They didn’t.
Remarkably, Mustafizur Rahman and Karthik Tyagi defended eight off the final two overs. Tyagi, player of the match, bowled five dot balls in a row to consign the Kings to a shocking defeat – one that leaves Punjab needing to win all their five remaining games to stand a chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
Worryingly for the Kings, this isn’t the first instance of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Last season against KKR, they needed 22 off the last 18 balls with nine wickets in hand, only to fall short. A couple of matches later against RCB, they nearly blew another easy finish, scoring the winning runs off the final ball after needing seven off the last two overs with nine wickets in hand.
“Tough one to swallow,” said skipper KL Rahul. “We need to see how we can handle pressure better. It’s happened to the best in the game. Tough one to swallow that you haven’t learnt from your previous mistakes.“