Kartik Tyagi bowled a superb final over, defending four runs to seal a thrilling win for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab Kings in match 32 of the Indian Premier Legaue (IPL) 2021 in Dubai on Tuesday. The 20-year-old became only the second bowler in IPL's history to defend four runs in the final over. Previously Munaf Patel, also playing for Rajasthan Royals, had saved four runs in the last over against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2009. After his heroics with the ball, Kartik received praise from India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Dale Styen.
Bumrah took to Twitter and praised Kartik for keeping a cool head under pressure.
"What an over, #KartikTyagi! To maintain a cool head under that kind of pressure and to get the job done, great stuff, very impressive! #PBKSvRR #IPL2021," Bumrah tweeted.
Steyn dubbed Kartik's performance as one of the best last overs while defending a target.
"Close to the best last over (defending) ever! Wowza," he tweeted.
Punjab Kings needed four runs to win in the final over but they could only manage to score a single and lost two wickets, eventually losing the match by two runs.
Kartik bowled five dot balls, picking up the wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda in the last over of the match to hand Rajasthan Royals a memorable win.
With the win, Rajasthan Royals jumped to fifth spot on the IPL 2021 points table. The Sanju Samson-led side will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.