RPL: Bowlers help Jaipur register 2nd win on the trot

Jodhpur: Carrying forward their all-round performance of the last game, Jaipur trumped Bhilwara by 23 runs in a league match of the Rajasthan Premier League (RPL) at the Barkatullah Khan Stadium in Jodhpur on Tuesday. Combination of right-arm seamer Ashok Sharma (4-0-26-2) and left-arm seamer Arafat Khan (4-0-32-2) choked the top-order, putting Bhilwara under tremendous pressure in their chase of 175. The scoreline read 28/3 in 3.1 overs. Left-arm spinner Rohit Khichar (3-0-6-2) followed the good work of the 2 seamers with 2 quick wickets.The responsibility to revive Bhilwara’s fortunes landed on Shiva Chouhan (14 off 13 balls) and Ritik Sharma (6 off 13 balls), but they too succumbed in front of the disciplined bowling on display. Attempting a cut, Ritik was caught behind on a Rohit delivery in the 7th over. The left-arm spinner followed it up with Bhilwara captain Deepak Chahar’s (1 off 4 balls) wicket in the same over after he holed out at long-off. Soon after, Shiva’s stay at the crease ended after being involved in a run-out in the 8th over.Karan Lamba (43 off 34 balls) and Kunal Singh Rathore’s (51 off 36 balls) partnership of 77 runs gave a glimmer of hope to Bhilwara, but Vishal Godara eliminated the threat in the 18th over.Earlier, made to bat first, Jaipur had an ordinary start. They lost wickets at regular intervals, but wicketkeeper batter Mukul Choudhary injected life into the innings with a quickfire unbeaten 59 off 36 balls which included four 4s and as many 6s. Lomror leads from the front: In the second game played on Monday night, Sikar rode on captain Mahipal Lomror’s brilliance with the bat to trounce Bhilwara by seven wickets. Lomror slammed an unbeaten 41-ball 57.