The royal son

PTI

Mumbai, May 7

Promising opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made a dream comeback with a career-best 68 as Rajasthan Royals remained in the hunt for a playoffs berth by beating Punjab Kings by six wickets. This was Rajasthan’s first while chasing in this edition of the IPL.

Drafted in to replace Karun Nair, the 20-year-old Jaiswal showed superb awareness and picked the gaps at ease in a 41-ball 68 to brilliantly set it up for Rajasthan, who were chasing 190.

With their first successful chase, Rajasthan are now third with 14 points from 11 matches and another win will firmly put them in contention for a top-four finish.

The win also meant that the five-time champions Mumbai Indians became the first team to be eliminated. The loss is a big blow to Punjab’s playoffs hopes as they now have 10 points from 11 matches.

Brief Scores: PBKS: 189/5 20 overs (Bairstow 56, Sharma 38*; Chahal 3/28); RR: 190/4 in 19.4 overs (Jaiswal 68, Buttler 30; Singh 2/29)

Giants go top

Pune: Quinton de Kock laid the platform with a commanding fifty and his pacers then terrorised Kolkata Knight Riders to record a crushing 75-run victory for Lucknow Super Giants which put them on top of the table with a playoffs berth being a formality now.

For Kolkata, eight points from 11 games with a negative run-rate now puts them closer to the exit door.

Brief Scores: LSG: 176/7 (De Kock 50, Hooda 41; Russell 2/22); KKR: 101 in 14.3 overs (Russell 45; Khan 3/19, Holder 3/31).