In the match of several ups and downs. Kings XI Punjab held their nerve to begin their Indian Premier League 2019 campaign with a victory. Bowlers of Punjab pulled the strings back in the latter half of the second innings and restricted Rajasthan for 170/9 to win the game by 14 runs. RR was in the match until debutant Sam Curran dismissed two set batsmen in an over.
Earlier, Chris Gayle gave Punjab a blazing start after putting on to bat by Rajasthan. Gayle hit all bowlers for cleaners and scored 79 runs in 47 balls. Sarfaraz Khan gave a finishing touch to KXIP’s innings at the death overs to take their total to 184/4 in 20 overs. Have a look at the reasons for defeat.
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Gayle goes berserk
The Universe Boss started the Indian Premier League 2019 in style and hit Rajasthan’s bowling lineup in all corners of Sawai Man Singh Stadium. Chris Gayle scored a flamboyant a 47-ball 79 runs, where he hit eight fours and four towering sixes. It was Gayle’s big hits which gave Kings XI Punjab a good start on which other batsmen capitalized and scored a mammoth total of 184/4 in 20 overs, which proved too much for Rajasthan batsmen to chase.
Mankaded makes IPL debut
Rajasthan Royals was cruising towards a win until Kings XI Punjab Ravichandran Ashwin Mankaded Jos Buttler, who was looking dangerous to win the game for RR. During 13th over of the game, Ashwin stopped in his follow through to catch Buttler outside of the crease and disturbed the stumps to dismiss him in the most unusual manner. Before getting out, he scored 69 runs in 43 balls including 10 fours and two sixes.
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Tight Middle-overs
RR was well in control of the chase until R Ashwin came into the attack. First, he dismissed Rajasthan’s skipper Ajinkya Rahane in his second over and didn’t concede too many runs. Ashwin kept the one end tight while Mujeeb Ur Rahman held the other one. This helped KXIP to gain control of the match and Buttler’s Mankaded dismissal helped the putting the pressure back on RR.
