Jaipur ke Sawai Mansingh Stadium mein ek badi takkar thi – Punjab Kings (PBKS) ke captain Shreyas Iyer ne toss jeetke bola, “Boss, pehle bowling karenge!” Ye match top-two spot ke liye tha – jeetne wala seedha playoffs mein ek aur chance paata. PBKS ne apni team mein badi badlav ki – Kyle Jamieson ko debut diya, Marco Jansen ko team mein wapas liya, aur Vijaykumar Vyshak ko teesri baar chance diya. Pitch batting-friendly thi, boundary chhoti thi – toh PBKS ne bowling strong kiya, kyunki MI ki batting lineup kaafi heavy hai.
Team Changes aur Soch
Pichhle match mein PBKS ne 206 runs defend nahi kiye the, toh is baar kuch naya karna tha. Lockie Ferguson ke injured hone ke baad New Zealand ka lamba-patla pacer Kyle Jamieson ko INR 2 crore mein kharida gaya tha aur debut diya gaya. Uski bounce aur height se kuch fark pad sakta tha under lights.
South African all-rounder Marco Jansen bhi wapas aaye, jabki bola ja raha tha ki woh WTC Final ke liye ghar laut jaayenge. Banda 2.06 meter ka hai – swing bhi karta hai, batting bhi kar leta hai. Isliye ek dum useful tha.
Vijaykumar Vyshak, Karnataka ka pacer, teesri baar khel raha tha. Usne pehle GT ke against match jeetaya tha PBKS ko. Death overs mein wide yorkers aur tight bowling karta hai – smart choice thi.
Azmatullah Omarzai aur Prabhsimran Singh ko hataake yeh teen aaye the. Prabhsimran ko Impact Player ke roop mein rakha gaya tha. Coach Ricky Ponting aur captain Shreyas Iyer ki yeh planning social media pe kaafi tareef mili.
Match ki Importance aur Pitch ka Scene
Yeh match jeetne wali team top-2 mein jaati. PBKS table pe dusre number pe thi, aur MI chauthe pe. Jaipur pitch pe runs bante hain – short boundaries aur halki-halki hawa chalti hai. Finch jaise experts ne bola tha ki dew ke chakkar mein second innings mein batting kaafi easy hoti hai – isliye Iyer ne pehle bowling choose ki.
Performance Highlights
Jaldi hi PBKS ke bowlers ne asar dikhaya. Jansen ne Ryan Rickelton ko 27 pe out kiya fifth over mein – bada wicket tha. Powerplay mein MI ka score sirf 52/1 tha – below 9 ka run rate.
Jamieson ne Suryakumar ko ek over mein chhakka-chor maara, lekin pressure banake rakha. Rohit Sharma struggle kar raha tha – 24 runs banake out ho gaya. Vyshak ne ek dam tight over daala – sirf 3 runs diye seventh over mein. Fir Tilak Varma ko out karke MI ko aur piche kar diya.
PBKS ki Bowling Planning
Arshdeep ne new ball se swing nikala, start tight diya. Jamieson, Jansen aur Vyshak ne rotate hoke pace attack strong banaya. Harpreet Brar ne spin handle kiya. Vyshak ko Impact Player banake ready rakha gaya tha – match ke hisaab se dalne ke liye. Varun Aaron jaise experts ne Iyer-Ponting ki planning ko smart bola.
MI ki Batting Response
MI ke paas Rohit, Rickelton, Will Jacks, Surya, Hardik jaise hitters the – sab ready the maarne ke liye. Lekin PBKS ki disciplined bowling ne unko bandh ke rakha. Surya ne thoda fire kiya – ek over mein Jamieson ko maara, lekin consistently run banana mushkil ho raha tha. Tilak Varma ko Vyshak ne nikaal diya – uska season already weak chal raha tha.
Bada Picture
PBKS agar yeh match jeetta, toh 2014 ke baad pehli baar top-2 mein jaane ka mauka milta. Squad kaafi balanced tha – Indian core (Iyer, Arshdeep, Brar) aur foreign stars (Jansen, Stoinis, Inglis) sab active the. Chahal injured tha, lekin Jamieson-Vyshak ke aane se pace attack aur solid ho gaya.
MI ke liye bhi match important tha – unka playoff spot confirm toh ho gaya tha, lekin top-2 ke liye jeet zaroori thi. Bumrah unka main bowler tha, lekin PBKS ke in-form bowlers se fight mushkil ho rahi thi.
Ant mein…
Jamieson ka debut, Jansen ka full power return, aur Vyshak ka death overs ka jadoo – sab ne PBKS ke bowling attack ko deadly bana diya. Iyer aur Ponting ki tactical captaincy ne match ka mood set kiya. High-scoring thriller ki umeed thi, lekin PBKS ne early hi MI ko pressure mein daal diya. Ab dekhte hain kaun playoffs mein kaise perform karta hai.
