IPL Match 9: Rajasthan Royals beat Kings XI Punjab in a high scoring thriller
Thanks to a superb batting effort, Rajasthan Royals defeated
Kings XI Punjab in a high scoring thriller played at Sharjah Cricket Ground,
Sharjah on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith won the toss and
decided to field first. Mayank Agarwal looked in cracking form right from word
go putting pressure on Rajasthan Royals bowlers. On the other hand, Kings XI
Punjab captain KL Rahul continued from where he left in the last match. At the
end of the first six overs, the openers raced away to 60 for 0.
After the power play overs, Kings XI Punjab made the batting
look easy and kept on piling runs with ease. At the end of the first timeout, the
openers made 86 for 0. Mayank Agarwal reached his fifty off just 26 balls while
Rahul completed a half-century off 35 balls. Both batsmen smashed Shreyas Gopal
with big strokes. Mayank showed his class by hitting all over the park against
the pacers and spinners. At the end of the second timeout, Kings XI Punjab scored
161 for 0.
Mayank Agarwal reached his maiden IPL century off 45 balls
to keep Kings XI Punjab momentum going. Tom Curran finally got the breakthrough
dismissing Agarwal for a superb 106 off 45 balls with a good catch by Samson at
deep mid-wicket. Kings XI Punjab openers put on 183 in 16.3 overs. Soon after
Ankit Rajpoot got rid of KL Rahul caught by Gopal at squad third man boundary.
Nicolas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell hit quickfire knocks to help Kings XI Punjab
post 223 for 2 in 20 overs.
Chasing a massive target of 224 runs to win, Steve Smith
looked in fine touch putting pressure on Kings XI bowlers. Sheldon Cottrell got
the breakthrough dismissing Jos Buttler with a good catch by Sarfaraz Khan at
square leg. Sanju Samson looked in fine touch and took the attack to Kings XI.
Ravi Bishnoi was bought into the attack, but Samson smashed him for big shots.
At the end of six overs, Rajasthan Royals made 69 for 1. Both batsmen took the
attack to Kings XI bowlers and made 80 for 1 at the end of the first timeout.
Smith looked in sensational touch and completed his fifty
off 26 balls. After getting his half-century, he was dismissed by James Neesham
caught by Mohammed Shami at deep cover. Samson and Smith added 81 runs for the
2nd wicket. Rahul Tewaita promoted at number 4 could not time the
ball. On the other hand, Samson completed his fifty off 26 balls. At the end of the second timeout, Rajasthan Royals scored 122 for 2.
Rahul Tewaita looked out of sorts with his batting and could
not time the ball. Sanju Samson hit 21 runs off Glenn Maxwell in the 17th
over to give hopes of winning. Mohammed Shami struck for Punjab dismissing
dangerous Samson hitting the gloves going into the hands of KL Rahul. Samson
and Tewaita added 61 runs for the 3rd wicket. With 51 runs required
off 18 balls, Tewaita smashed Cottrell for 5 sixes changing the momentum of the
game.
Mohammed Shami got rid of Robin Uthappa chipping the ball
into the hands of Pooran. Jofra Archer promoted at number 5 hit 2 sixes making life
easy for Rajasthan Royals. Tewaita completed his fifty off 28 balls and soon
got out. Murgan Ashwin bowling the last over took the wicket of Riyan Parag to
give some excitement. Tom Curran hit the winning blow to give Rajasthan Royals
a famous 4 wicket win with 3 balls to spare.
Sanju Samson was awarded the man of the match award for his
85 off 42 balls.
Rajasthan Royals 226 for 6 in 19.3 overs ( Samson 85, Smith
50, Tewaita 53, Shami 3/53, Ashwin 1/16) beat Kings XI Punjab 223 for 2 in 20
overs ( Mayank Agarwal 106, Rahul 69, Rajpoot 1/39) by 4 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals chase down 224 to win their 2nd successive match
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