Arshdeep Singh picked up five wickets before Punjab Kings messed up an easy run chase to suffer a narrow two run defeat against Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling IPL match in Dubai on Tuesday.
Medium pacer Arshdeep took 5/32 with a splendid performance in the death overs which helped Punjab bowl out the Royals for 185 after they looked to score in excess of 200 at one stage.
Arshdeep was instrumental in putting the brakes on the Royals innings by chipping away at the wickets every time he was called in to bowl.
Royals got off to a quickfire start as Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal took their team past 50, in the fifth over itself.
Arshdeep got the breakthrough for Punjab when he dismissed Lewis for a quickfire 36 from 21 balls, having the batsman caught in the covers by Mayank Agarwal in the sixth over.
Liam Livingstone blazed away to 25 from 17 balls, but Arshdeep struck again in his next over to send back the Englishman who was threatening to take the Punjab attack to the cleaners.
Fabian Allen came up with an unbelievable catch on the midwicket boundary, diving full length to his right and plucking the ball out of mid-air, to give his team a vital wicket.
Arshdeep, 22, was brought back again for his third over, in the crucial 18th over. This time he engineered the downfall of the dangerous Mahipal Lomror, who had smashed 43 from 17 balls, getting him caught at long-on.
The pacer was not done yet as he struck twice with the final two deliveries of the Royals innings, claiming Chetan Sakariya and Kartik Tyagi to finish with a five-wicket haul.
Mohammed Shami took 3/21 at the other end, as Punjab made a good comeback in the death overs with the Royals losing six wickets for 21 runs in the last four overs.
