With 30 needed off 18 balls in a pursuit of 211, Rashid Khan (24) and Kagiso Rabada (23 n.o.) tried to pull off a late heist and failed.
After Rashid opened the face to steer one between backward point and short third for a four and Rabada smoked a slower ball straight down the ground for a six, both off Sandeep Sharma, the equation slipped to 11 off 6. Rashid then holed out to deep cover off Tushar Deshpande with 7 needed off 2, and the new batter Ashok Sharma couldn’t put the final ball away.
Earlier, opener Sai Sudharsan produced an innings of soaring majesty (73, 44b, 9×4, 3×6). It wasn’t just clean hitting, it was control disguised as ease. If T20 batting was a nightclub, he would be the guy reading a book in the corner and somehow owning the place. His innings made it seem the chase bent to his will, like grass in a hard wind.
He was crisp and inventive. He ramped Archer over deep third for six, then drove him between extra cover and cover point and slashed another over backward point for fours. Against Jadeja, he opened the face late to glide one fine past the keeper for a four, and later dropped to one knee to muscle him over deep midwicket for a six. Parag was first caressed through the off side and then taken apart with a full toss sent over cow corner for a six, while Burger’s short ball was anticipated and ramped over the keeper for a four.
For Royals, Jaiswal’s innings was both silk and shrapnel, inlay and impulse. It had everything Jaiswal. The high-elbowed ease, the flat-batted fury, the pick-and-pummel, the shuffle-and-slice, the drift-and-ramp, and the stand-and-deliver.
He took Siraj apart in one over, lofting him over covers for a six, flicking him past short fine leg for a four, and lofting him over mid-off for a four. He pulled Rabada for a six over deep midwicket and later shuffled across to ramp him over the keeper for a four. Against Prasidh Krishna, he hit a straight six to long-on, nudged one behind square on the leg side for a four, and backed away to slice another four past backward point. He brought up his fifty with a four between extra cover and mid-off against Siraj.
Jurel’s knock had streaky fours, but when he really clicked, it was T20 batting with a velvet glove. He seemed to operate in a version of the game where effort had been reduced to its essentials. A step, a lean, a swing – and the rest was delegated to timing. Remarkably, he stepped out to Rashid to pick the googly and slug it over wide long-on for a six, before taking on the length – one angled in and another on the pads – both dispatched over deep midwicket, off Ashok and Prasidh, with clean, decisive swings.
Published on Apr 04, 2026
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