<p>Chandigarh: Rajasthan Royals bowlers under Avesh Khan and Keshav Maharaj exploited a sticky pitch to the hilt to restrict Punjab Kings to an underwhelming 147 for eight in their IPL match here on Saturday.</p><p>Pacer Avesh (2/34) and left-arm spinner Maharaj (2/23) did not allow any breathing space to Kings’ batters after Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson opted to field first.</p><p>Ashutosh Sharma (31, 16b), Jitesh Sharma (29, 24b) and Liam Livingstone (21, 14b) tried to force the pace but Punjab needed more than those pretty little cameos.</p><p>But the Kings had a rather quick start to their innings with 26 runs coming in the first three overs as Atharva Taide, who came in for injured skipper Shikhar Dhawan, hammered a couple of fours off pacer Kuldeep Sen.</p><p>However, the brakes were soon applied as Taide’s mistimed pull off pacer Avesh Khan ended in the hands of Sen inside the circle.</p><p>Thereafter the Punjab batters struggled to muster any sort of momentum on a pitch that gripped a bit, especially for left-arm spinner Maharaj and leg-spinner Chahal.</p><p>However, a slice of credit should also go to veteran pacer Trent Boult who conceded just 15 runs in his three power play overs, a stage when the pitch was still fine for batting.</p><p>The last three power play overs could only fetch 10 runs for Kings as they ended that passage with a modest 38 for one.</p>.Gaikwad cut from same cloth as Dhoni: Stephen Fleming.<p>In the next five overs, the hosts struggled to hit even one boundary as they laboured to 53 for four in 10 overs, losing Jonny Bairstow, stand-in-skipper Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh, all consumed by the combination of a slow deck and accurate spinners.</p><p>Curran’s dismissal was the most telltale example of that.</p><p>The left-hander failed to impart power or timing to his pull off Maharaj as the ball got even slower after pitching. Dhruv Jurel latched on to a tumbling catch while running in from deep mid-wicket.</p><p>Their biggest hope on the day could have been the range-hitting ability of in-form Shahshank Singh but a feeble pull off Sen could not progress beyond Jurel at mid-wicket.</p><p>With the cream of top-order back in the hut without any significant contribution, the PBKS required some hefty hand from Livingstone and Jitesh to get to even a par score.</p><p>Sharma showed some intent too, clobbering Chahal for a gorgeously timed six over extra over, and later sent Sen for a six to the straight fence before getting out to Avesh.</p><p>Livingstone, who creamed Sen for a six and four off successive balls through mid-wicket, and Ashutosh, who smoked Avesh for two sixes in the 19th over, helped PBKS add 61 runs in the last five overs, but their effort came a wee bit late.</p>
<p>Chandigarh: Rajasthan Royals bowlers under Avesh Khan and Keshav Maharaj exploited a sticky pitch to the hilt to restrict Punjab Kings to an underwhelming 147 for eight in their IPL match here on Saturday.</p><p>Pacer Avesh (2/34) and left-arm spinner Maharaj (2/23) did not allow any breathing space to Kings’ batters after Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson opted to field first.</p><p>Ashutosh Sharma (31, 16b), Jitesh Sharma (29, 24b) and Liam Livingstone (21, 14b) tried to force the pace but Punjab needed more than those pretty little cameos.</p><p>But the Kings had a rather quick start to their innings with 26 runs coming in the first three overs as Atharva Taide, who came in for injured skipper Shikhar Dhawan, hammered a couple of fours off pacer Kuldeep Sen.</p><p>However, the brakes were soon applied as Taide’s mistimed pull off pacer Avesh Khan ended in the hands of Sen inside the circle.</p><p>Thereafter the Punjab batters struggled to muster any sort of momentum on a pitch that gripped a bit, especially for left-arm spinner Maharaj and leg-spinner Chahal.</p><p>However, a slice of credit should also go to veteran pacer Trent Boult who conceded just 15 runs in his three power play overs, a stage when the pitch was still fine for batting.</p><p>The last three power play overs could only fetch 10 runs for Kings as they ended that passage with a modest 38 for one.</p>.Gaikwad cut from same cloth as Dhoni: Stephen Fleming.<p>In the next five overs, the hosts struggled to hit even one boundary as they laboured to 53 for four in 10 overs, losing Jonny Bairstow, stand-in-skipper Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh, all consumed by the combination of a slow deck and accurate spinners.</p><p>Curran’s dismissal was the most telltale example of that.</p><p>The left-hander failed to impart power or timing to his pull off Maharaj as the ball got even slower after pitching. Dhruv Jurel latched on to a tumbling catch while running in from deep mid-wicket.</p><p>Their biggest hope on the day could have been the range-hitting ability of in-form Shahshank Singh but a feeble pull off Sen could not progress beyond Jurel at mid-wicket.</p><p>With the cream of top-order back in the hut without any significant contribution, the PBKS required some hefty hand from Livingstone and Jitesh to get to even a par score.</p><p>Sharma showed some intent too, clobbering Chahal for a gorgeously timed six over extra over, and later sent Sen for a six to the straight fence before getting out to Avesh.</p><p>Livingstone, who creamed Sen for a six and four off successive balls through mid-wicket, and Ashutosh, who smoked Avesh for two sixes in the 19th over, helped PBKS add 61 runs in the last five overs, but their effort came a wee bit late.</p>