Royals defend eight runs from last two overs in IPL thriller

The Punjab Kings have thrown away victory in their IPL match against the Rajasthan Royals, failing to score just eight runs from the final two overs despite having eight wickets in hand.

A century opening stand from KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal had put the Kings on course to chase the 186 they needed for victory before South African Aiden Markram and West Indian Nicholas Pooran compiled a fifty partnership from 28 balls, leaving them with just eight to win from the final 12 deliveries of the match.

But Bangladeshi Mustafizur Rahman and 20-year-old Indian Kartik Tyagi gave up just five runs between them, including just a single from the final over, to leave the Kings needing to win their remaining five games of the season to reach the play-offs.

In sequence, the final two overs read: ..1111.1W.W.

"We were cruising," lamented Punjab coach Anil Kumble.

"As batters, they know what their scoring shots are. All it needed was a bit of hitting. Even if someone got out first ball, the next batter had five balls to get the runs.

"When it goes to the last couple of balls, it becomes hard. The messaging was clear. We had to finish it in 19 overs, unfortunately that didn't happen today.

"When you leave it to the last couple of balls, it becomes a lottery.

"It was pretty clear (Tyagi) was going to bowl wide outside off, and somehow our batters didn't take the right options.

"We need to discuss this and sort it out. We have five more games to go, we don't want to get bogged down by this defeat but it's certainly a bitter pill to swallow."

Mustafizur started the late turnaround by delivering a superb over, conceding just four runs to leave the Kings with four more to win from the last over with Markram on strike.

Tyagi then sent down a full toss first ball, which Markram hit straight to the fielder, before a full delivery was whipped into the leg side for a single, reducing the equation to three from four balls with Pooran on strike.

But the left-hander could only get a feather behind to another full ball from Tyagi before the new batsman, Deepak Hooda, walked across his stumps to chase wide delivery, missed and left three needed from two balls.

Tyagi went wide again and Hooda chased it once more, so much so that it would have been called a wide had he stayed in place. But all he managed was an edge behind, leaving new man Fabian Allen to score three runs from the final ball.

But Tyagi produced the goods again, sending down another perfect wide yorker that finished in the wicketkeeper's gloves, the fifth dot ball of the over sealing victory for Rajasthan by just two runs.