One of the biggest rivals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are locking horns with each other at the PCA’s IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali and again Punjab has come out swinging. After winning the toss, the RR skipper, Ajinkya Rahane asked the hosts to bat first. However, the hosts started on a decent note as both their openers, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle started off cautiously, which helped them to win the game by 12 runs.
During the toss, the KXIP skipper, R Ashwin revealed that they have made two changes to their squad as Sam Curran, Andrew Tye, and Sarfaraz Khan made way for Arshdeep Singh, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, and David Miller. On the other hand, RR also had three changes in their squad as Steve Smith, Liam Livingston, and Krishnappa Gowtham made way for Ashton Turner, Stuart Binny, and Ish Sodhi.
WATCH – R Ashwin Smashes 17 Runs Off the Final Over
Rahul and Gayle steadily as they added 38 runs for the opening wicket, before the latter getting out in the sixth over. After that, Mayan Agarwal joined KL, but they only managed to add 29 runs for the second wicket as Ish Sodhi dismissed Mayank in the ninth over. After his dismissal, David Miller added 85 runs or the third wicket along with Ragul before the latter getting out in the 18th over.
The final Over
During their partnership, Rahul, who started very cautiously decided to take on the bowlers in the 14th over when he and Miller smashed Sodhi for one six each. After Rahul’s dismissal, Jofra Archer dismissed, Nichola Pooran and Mandeep Singh in the penultimate over before Dhawal Kulkarni dismissing Miller on the first ball of the final over and Punjab was reeling at 164/6.
WATCH – Pooran Takes A Blinder To Complete Arshdeep’s Maiden Wicket
During the chase, started off with all guns blazing as their openers, Rahul Tripathi and Jos Buttler added 38 runs in just three overs for the opening wicket, before the latter getting out on the first ball of the fourth over. They were cruising well even after that dismissal as Rahul and Sanju Samson added 59 runs for the second wicket before latter getting out by Ashwin in the 12 over with RR requiring 85 in 48 balls which was a gettable score.
Losing momentum
However, after Samson’s dismissal, Rajasthan lost the plot as Punjab’s spinners used the slowness of the pitch to pull things back when Ajinkya Rahane walked out. Despite the fact that they had some hitter like Ashton Turner and Stuart Binny, RR failed to chase down as they were requiring 56 off 24 when Turner came out to bat, but he was dismissed on golden duck by M Ashwin. Binny played a cameo of 33 off 11 balls but wasn’t enough as they kept on losing wickets, eventually losing the game by 12 runs.
Brief Score:
Kings XI Punjab – 182/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul: 52, D Miller: 40; J Archer: 3/15) defeated Rajasthan Royals – 170/7 in 20 overs (R Tripathi: 50; R Ashwin: 2/24, A Singh: 2/43) by 12 runs
