Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl first just sparing 2 runs of the 1st over of 1st innings. But in the very next over of Unadkat, Chris Gayle smashes two consecutive sixes. Gayle continued his strikes with a boundary in the 3rd over, putting up 19 runs after 3 overs. Gayle (30 out; 22b; 2X4, 3X6) was smacking boundaries and sixes all over, just when he was starting to look dangerous, Jofra Archer picks up his wicket, Sanju Samson taking a good catch, Kings XI Punjab 39-1 at the end of powerplay. However, Mayank Agarwal took charge of the situation, and to add a decent total on board kept going for big hits, Punjab concealing 63 runs off 8 overs, with the loss of 1 wicket. After the strategic time out, in the 4th ball of the 9th over, Ish Sodhi strikes with the wicket of Mayank Agarwal (26 out; 12b; 1X4, 2X6), Jofra Archer taking a nice catch. New batsman on crease David Miller, and opening batman Lokesh Rahul started to build a partnership, bringing Punjab back in the game with 75-2 in 10 overs. The duo put out 85 runs partnership in next 7 overs, in which Miller was clean bowled by Jofra Archer but luckily enough for Kings XI Punjab, it was given a No-ball. K L Rahul brings up his 50 with an inside out boundary on deep extra cover. But the 1st ball of the 18th over, Jaydev Unadkat gets the wicket of KL Rahul (52 out; 47b; 3X4, 2X6), KXIP at 152-3 after 17.1 overs. Nicholas Pooran (5 out; 6b) comes to crease but his innings was short lived departing in the middle of 19th over, soon after, Mandeep Singh (0 out; 2b) falls, Punjab 163-4 in 18.3 overs. David Miller (40 out; 27b; 2X4, 2X6) goes down in the 1st ball of the last over, trying to clear long-on region, and not quite getting the distance, falls into Jos Buttler’s safe hands. Skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (17 not out; 4b; 1X4, 2X6) hits last few balls for 2 maximums and a boundary settling for the final score of 182-6, at the end of 20 overs.
The second innings Arshdeep Singh bowled his 1st over, costing just 4 runs off it. However, Jos Buttler (23 out; 17b; 1X4, 2X6) seemed to be going strong, in next 4 overs, but was cut short by Arshdeep Singh in the 1st ball of the 5th over, as Nicholas Pooran takes an excellent catch behind the stumps, Rajasthan Royals at 38-1 after 4.1 overs. Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson kept the scoreboard moving with occasional boundaries. After 10 overs Rajasthan Royals were 89 with the loss of 1 wicket. They put out a 59 runs partnership, until Sanju Samson (27 out; 21b; 2X4) departs, clean bowled by a splendid carom ball delivery by Ravichandran Ashwin. Tripathi and Rahane starts chasing the runs with rare boundaries which were seemingly not enough. And to make things more troublesome for Rajasthan Royals, Tripathi (50 out; 45b; 4X4) completes 50 runs mark and just after that, in the last ball of Ashwin’s over succumbed to his spells. At the end of 16th over, Rajasthan Royals needs 56 runs off 24 balls. New batsman Ashton Turner (0 out; 1b) plays a single ball and gets out by the other Ashwin. Jofra Archer (1 out; 3b) arrived at the crease but was pretty quick to head back to the dugout, credit goes to Mohammed Shami. After coming to bat Stuart Binny (33 not out; 11b; 2X4, 3X6) hit a maximum and a boundary of the 1st two balls that he faced putting some pressure off of Rajasthan Royals, as they needed 37runs of the remaining 2 overs. However, on the other hand Ajinkya Rahane (26 out; 21b; 1X4) staying at the crease seemed not entirely a good sign for Kings XI Punjab, and to deal with the slight tension young bowler Arshdeep Singh picks up his wicket in the mid-19th over, excellent running from Shami as he takes the catch at first slip. Binny hits 2 consecutive sixes to end the over leaving 23 to chase off the final over. However, experienced bowler Mohammed Shami bowled a brilliant last over, with just one boundary of the last ball, concluding the innings with a victory by 12 runs margin, against Rajasthan Royals at Mohali.
