The much-awaited clash of the 50th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Abu Dhabi, lived up to its expectations.
It was the Royals who ended up triumphant by a margin of seven wickets and broke the KXIP’s five-match winning streak. Thereby, keeping themselves alive in the tournament.
The result, therefore, opened up the points table yet again as the tournament’s league stage is all set to for a theatrical finish.
Earlier, Chris Gayle ran ruckus in Royal’s camp with his destructive knock of 99, which came off just 63 deliveries. The ‘Universe Boss’ entertained his fans with six fours and eight mighty hits over the fence.
He was well supported by KL Rahul (46 off 41) initially, who took a giant lead in the race for the Orange Cap. Later, Nicholas Pooran’s cameo (22 off 10) helped KXIP to push towards a total of 185/4 in 20 overs.
Englishmen Jofra Archer (2/26) and Ben Stokes (2/32) were the picks of the bowlers, as they shared all four wickets amongst themselves.
In a do-or-die situation, Royals came out all guns blazing in the powerplay with their opening partnership 60 runs.
Stokes completed his all-round performance with a 24-ball half-century. Thanks to Stokes, Royals brought up the quickest fifty in the tournament (inside 4.2 overs).
Sanju Samson continued with the momentum set by the openers before getting dismissed by a brilliant run out by substitute J Suchith. The number three batter smacked 48 off just 25 deliveries, to keep RR’s score above the asking run-rate.
The fourth-wicket partnership between captain Steve Smith (31 off 20) and Jos Buttler (22 off 11) proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Kings XI. The two internationals completed the run-chase with two and a half overs to spare.
No prizes for guessing, Stokes was adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his all-round performances in the field.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals – 186/3 in 17.3 overs (Stokes 50, Samson 48) beat Kings XI Punjab – 185/4 in 20 overs (Gayle 99, Archer 2/26) by 7 wickets.
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