With the stunning opening of the Indian Premier League opener, K.L. Rahul helped Kings XI Punjab to defeat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets. They further enhance their chances to a playoff at the Holkar Stadium, Indore on Sunday.
Chasing 153 to win, Rajasthan Royal's bowlers Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes scalped dangerman Chris Gayle (8) and Mayank Agarwal (2) in successive overs to leave Punjab at 29 for 2 in less than five overs.
After 16 overs Kings XI Punjab scored 110 runs losing four wickets but during this time Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Akshar Patel were the batsmen who lost their wicket early. Lokesh Rahul contributed 84 while Karun Nair played an important role in the victory of Punjab and scored 31 runs.
For Rajasthan Royals, Krishnappa Gowtham who gave only 1 run for 18 balls and Jaydev Unadkat gave 0 runs for 26 balls were the most economical bowlers. While the remaining others were too expensive. Earlier, R Ashwin won the toss and invited Rajasthan Royals to bat first.
On Monday, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take over on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. In what would be a crucial match for the former to gain two valuable points and keep their chances open for the playoffs.
