IPL 2020: RR vs KXIP: Rajasthan Royals beat Kings Xi Punjab by 7 wickets

 Despite this defeat, the Punjab team remained at number-4 in the points table but Rajasthan team reached the number 5 with 12 points similar to that.

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IPL 2020: Former champions Rajasthan Royals defeated Kings XI Punjab by 7 wickets on Friday in the 50th match of IPL-13. Both teams currently have 12–12 points and remain in the race for the playoffs.

Punjab scored 185 for 4 wickets thanks to a stormy innings by Chris Gayle (99) but the Rajasthan team proved it too dwarf and achieved the target by losing 3 wickets in 17.3 overs.

Punjab team lost 7th in 13 matches and the team retained fourth place in the IPL 2020 points table with 12 points . The Rajasthan team registered the sixth win in as many matches and has also gained 12 points, but in terms of net run rate, it was behind the Royals and reached number 5.

Rajasthan were given a strong start by Ben Stokes and Robin Uthappa and both scored 60 runs in 5.2 overs. Rajasthan's FIFTY was completed in 4.2 overs, when Ben Stokes played Mohammed Shami in the gap between extra cover and mid-off and hit a superb four. Stokes completed his half-century off just 24 balls but was hunted down by Chris Jordan on a personal score of 50. Stokes hit 6 fours and 3 sixes in his innings of 26 balls.

Robin Uthappa (30) missed out on FIFTY as the second wicket and he was caught by Murugan Ashwin at the hands of Nicholas Pooran. Uthappa hit 1 four, 2 sixes off 23 balls. Sanju Samson then missed the 14th of his IPL career and his fourth half-century of the season. Samson was run out on a personal score of 48. He hit 4 fours and 3 sixes in 25 balls.

Captain Steve Smith and Jose Butler, playing in a brisk manner, gave the team victory in 17.3 overs. However, the victory came from Chris Jordan's wide ball. Smith made 31 not out with the help of 5 fours from 20 balls and Butler scored 22 not out off 11 balls with 1 fours, 2 sixes. Both added 41 not out.

Aggressive batsman Chris Gayle missed a century by one run but with the century partnership of him and captain Lokesh Rahul, Kings XI Punjab scored 185 for four against Rajasthan Royals. Gayle took advantage of two lives, scoring 63 runs in 63 balls with eight sixes and six fours. Apart from him, Rahul scored 46 runs. Nicholas Pooran played a useful innings of 22 runs in 10 balls. Joffra Archer and Ben Stokes took two wickets each for the Royals, giving away 26 and 32 runs respectively.

Royals captain Steve Smith decided to bowl first after winning the toss, after which Joffra Archer caught Mandeep Singh (00) in the first over by Ben Stokes. Archer got his team off to a great start but Gayle and Rahul shared an amazing partnership.

After the first wicket fell early, the ardent Chris Gayle hit pacer Varun Aaron and then hit a six in his next over. He, however, was lucky on the next ball when the ball was hoisted in the air but Ryan Pollen failed to take a catch on the boundary. Gayle welcomed Karthik Tyagi with two consecutive fours and a six. Rahul also hit a six and a four over Aaron after a slow start. The team scored 53 for one in the power play and 81 runs in 10 overs. Gayle and Rahul shared a 120-run partnership for the second wicket.

The Punjab batsmen maintained the run pace in the middle overs as well. Gayle scored leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal while Rahul hit a six over Tyagi. Smith made frequent bowling changes but did not succeed. Gayle completed a 33-ball half-century with a six over Rahul Tewatia. Gayle, however, waved the ball in the same over but Tewatia failed to catch a difficult catch on his ball. Gayle added another six over Tewatia to take the team's score to 100 in the 13th over. Gayle became the first batsman in the world to hit 1000 sixes in T20 cricket with his seventh six in the next over of Tyagi. Gayle also hit a six over Archer in the final over of the innings but was bowled on the fourth ball.

Captain Rahul contributed 46 runs while Puran contributed 22 runs. Rahul Pavilion returned by catching Teotia in an attempt to play a big shot off Stokes' ball. He hit three fours and two sixes during his 41-ball innings. Puran started his innings with two sixes over Aaron. Gayle hit a four and a six on Stokes in the 18th over, but in the same over, Tewatia was caught by Puran at the boundary. Puran hit 3 sixes in 10 balls.

young fast bowlers Karthik Tyagi and Varun Aaron proved to be quite expensive. Both give 47–47 runs in four overs.

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