Rajasthan Royals Won by 8 Wkts, Chris Gayle smashed 99 runs

Rajasthan Royals Won by 8 Wkts , Chris Gayle smashed 99 runs .

Rajasthan Royals stopped the enthralling 5 match victory run of Kings XI Punjab. Gayle smashed 99 but it still wasn’t enough to hand KXIP 2 points. Stokes and Samson do it again for RR and RR’s victory means that the points table is wide open and anyone of SRH, KKR, KXIP and RR can be in the top 4.

PERFORMERS OF THE DAY

RAJASTHAN ROYALS Bat: Ben Stokes 50(26) Sanju Samson 48(25) Bowl: Jofra Archer 4-0-26-2 Ben Stokes 4-0-32-2
KINGS XI PUNJAB Bat: Chris Gayle 99(63) KL Rahul 46(41) Bowl: M Ashwin 4-0-43-1

Player Of The Match : Ben Stokes

AS IT HAPPENED

RR won the toss and chose to field first. The same old T20 norm to chase seems to be back as teams are turning to fielding first. While KXIP had no changes, RR had one change – Varun Aaron coming in for Ankit Rajpoot.

KL Rahul – Epitome of Consistency

Mayank or no Mayank, KL Rahul continues to provide good starts to Punjab and is proudly donning the orange cap for quite some matches now. He scored an anchoring 46 runs and one might feel that he got out at just the wrong time but Gayle covered the loss well. KL Rahul has thus far scored 641 runs in 13 matches. There seems to be a method to his madness as the
bowlers seem lost of ways to get him out. Although Mandeep couldn’t trouble the scorecard, Rahul with Gayle provided Punjab a solid start and they were 53/1 after the powerplay.

Punjab Finished Well but Not Enough and this brings SRH into the Game!

Punjab amassed 62 runs in the last 5 overs and finished on 185 after their 20 overs. The target looked stiff but not stiff enough for Rajasthan Royals. Punjab can now get a maximum of 14 points and their battered net run rate can make it difficult for them to qualify. SRH on the other hand can also get a maximum of 14 points but their net run rate is far better than any other team fighting for the 4th spot.

Ben Stokes Comes All Guns Blazing
It was a do-or-die chase for RR and their openers, in particular Stokes seemed to know that well. A nothing-to-lose attitude can bring forth performances like these. Robin and Stokes provided a good start to a high score chase that perfectly set the stage for the coming batsmen. RR were 66/1 after the power play. Although RR lost Stokes in the power play, he departed after scoring 26 balls 50. Rajasthan Royals Won by 8 Wkts .

Samson, Smith and Buttler work in Tandem to Finish Well

After Ben Stokes, the responsibility to build on the good start was on the RR middle order. The trio of Samson, Smith and Buttler chipped in together to win RR the game in the 18th over itself. They scored 67 runs in the last 33 balls to worsen KXIP’s already bad net run rate. RR have been brilliant with the bat in the last 2 games but a lot rides on the results of tomorrow’s game. They desperately need RCB and DC to lose tomorrow if they want themselves to be in the playoffs.

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