Jaipur: Four wickets in a space of eight balls turned the game towards Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) as the Ravichandran Ashwin-captained side defeated Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs to notch up their first victory of the season at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here Monday despite a strong start by opener Jos Buttler (69, 43b, 10×4, 2×6).
From 146/2 after 16 overs, the Royals slumped to 158/6 in 18 overs, thanks to some brilliant bowling from debutant Sam Curran (2/52) and spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/31) as the Jaipur-based franchise ended on 170/9.
The major turning point of the match came in the 13th over when Englishman Buttler was ‘Mankaded’ by KXIP skipper Ashwin.
Earlier, Chris Gayle (79, 47b, 8×4, 4×6) struck a belligerent half-century to guide Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to a challenging 184/4 in their full quota of overs.
Opening the innings, Gayle started in an uncharacteristic fashion but grew in confidence as the innings progressed. Besides Gayle, young Sarfaraz Khan (46 n o, 29b) also played a good hand towards the end to propel the team to past 180-run mark.
Rajasthan’s decision to bowl first on a two-paced wicket was bang on target as opener KL Rahul (four) lasted just four balls before edging an outgoing Dhawal Kulkarni delivery to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, who took a brilliant one-handed catch.
Gayle and Mayank Agarwal (22) then struggled to hit big shots against RR’s disciplined bowling as they garnered just 32 runs in the powerplay overs.
Gayle then opened up his arms again and hit Krishnappa Gowtham (1/32) for a maximum in the first ball of the ninth over. But Gowtham broke the 54-run stand between Gayle and Agarwal after the latter was caught at long-off by Kulkarni.
Brought back into the attack in the 12th over, Unadkat was taken to the cleaners by Gayle as he hit the left-arm pacer for three consecutive fours and then a straight six over the bowler’s head to bring up his fifty in 33 balls.
Brief scores: Kings XI Punjab 184/4 (Chris Gayle 79, Sarfaraz Khan 46 n o; Ben Stokes 2/48) bt Rajasthan Royals 170/9 (Jos Buttler 69; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/31) by 14 runs.
